The German grid regulator BNetzA has set a price cap of €63 per megawatt-hour for the country’s onshore wind auctions in 2018, up from the expected €50/MWh figure that was determined by previous tender results.
BNetzA said if the level had been €50/MWh, it would have been below the current cost level of €56/MWh.
Under the terms of Germany’s renewable energy act, the price cap is determined by the results of the previous auctions. However, BNetzA also has the option to set a different cap, if it deems it necessary.
“With the higher price cap, we expect a good competition in next year’s auctions,” BNetzA president Jochen Homann said. “This makes bid prices possible that can lead to profitable projects,” he added.
The agency said an overly ambitious price cap could have led to an insufficient number of bids for the capacity available.
Germany plans to allocate 2.8GW a year in new onshore wind capacity from 2017 to 2019, followed by 2.9GW from 2020.
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