German grid regulator BNetz has awarded 476MW of onshore wind capacity in the country’s latest auction, well below the 700MW on offer.
The 67 winning bids paid an average price of €61.10 per megawwatt-hour, with the bidding range between €52.40/MWh and €62.00/MWh, BNetz said.
A total of 72 bids were made totalling 499MW, it added.
Eighteen projects each are located in the regions of Lower Saxony and Brandenburg, with 12 in North Rhine-Westphalia.
BNetzA described the level of participation, in what was Germany’s first onshore wind tender in 2019, as “low” and continuing a trend seen in several previous rounds.
“We must work together with the industry and the relevant authorities to find solutions to the licensing situation,” said BNetzA president Jochen Homann.
WindEurope chief executive Giles Dickson said: “This is now the third German onshore wind auction in a row that’s been under-subscribed.
“It’s clear the permitting process is not fit for purpose. It’s taking longer and longer to get a permit.
“The Bundeslander are reluctant to identify new locations for wind farms. And even if wind farms do get a permit, many then get caught up in legal disputes, which is pushing up costs.
“The German government needs to take urgent action to make permitting easier. And the Bundeslander need to identify appropriate new zones for onshore wind.
“If they don’t, auctions will continue to be under-subscribed, and prices will remain higher than they should be. And this will jeopardise Germany’s target of 65% renewables in electricity by 2030.”
German wind energy association BWE said a substantial number of potential projects were bogged down by litigation or slowed by lengthy approvals processes.
BWE president Hermann Albers said: “The expansion of wind energy on land has not yet recovered from the false start of tenders in 2017.
“Calls for tenders no longer make sufficient contributions to ensure the expansion … in a planned and systematic manner.
“A significant boost in area designation and approval practices is required.”
Meanwhile, a tender for 175MW of solar capacity drew 80 bids totalling 465MW, with 24 successful, BNetz said.
Prices ranged between €41.10/MWh and €51.80/MWh, with an average of €48.0/MWh.
All but two of the projects are in the region of Bavaria, the regulator said.