The Bundesnetzagentur has today announced the results of the offshore wind power auctions for non-centrally pre-investigated sites, which closed for bids on 1 June 2023. A dynamic bidding procedure was conducted for each of the four sites up for auction; it was the first time such a procedure had been carried out. The proceeds from the auctions came to €12.6bn.
Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur:
"The results confirm the attractiveness of investing in offshore wind energy in Germany. Competition in offshore wind power has never been so high. The results are a key step towards achieving the offshore expansion target of 30 gigawatts by 2030."
Auction results
Four sites with a combined volume of 7,000 megawatts (MW) were up for auction. Three sites for offshore wind farms, each with a capacity of 2,000 MW, are located in the North Sea and one site with a capacity of 1,000 MW is located in the Baltic Sea. The sites in the North Sea (N-11.1, N-12.1, N-12.2) are about 120 km north-west of Helgoland whilst the site in the Baltic Sea (O-2.2) is around 25 km from the island of Rügen. The wind farms are due to be operational in 2030.
The successful bidders were bp OFW Management 1 GmbH with a bid of €1.83mn/MW for site N-11.1, North Sea OFW N12-1 GmbH & Co. KG with a bid of €1.875mn/MW for N-12.1, bp OFW Management 3 GmbH with a bid of €1.56mn/MW for N-12.2 and Baltic Sea OFW O2-2 GmbH & Co. KG with a bid of €2.07mn/MW for O-2.2. The total prices to be paid by these bidders are €3.66bn for N-11.1, €3.75bn for N-12.1, €3.12bn for N-12.2 and €2.07bn for O-2.2.
The successful bidders now have a right to a planning approval procedure for constructing and operating offshore wind installations on their site and to grid connection and the necessary capacity.
First online dynamic bidding procedures
The dynamic bidding procedures were necessary because several bids with a value of zero cents per kilowatt hour had been submitted in the auctions: eight zero-cent bids for each of the sites in the North Sea and nine zero-cent bids for the site in the Baltic Sea. The purpose of a dynamic bidding procedure is to differentiate between bidders in a competitive environment when several zero-cent bids have been made. The successful bidders were the ones willing to pay the highest amount for each site.
This was determined online in successive bidding rounds with increasing bid levels and with several bidding rounds each day. There were a total of 64 rounds for site N-11.1, 65 for N-12.1, 55 for N-12.2 and 72 for O-2.2.
Lower electricity costs and sustainable marine conservation
A total of 90% of the proceeds from the offshore wind power auctions will go towards bringing down electricity costs and 5% each towards marine nature conservation and promoting sustainable fishing. The contributions for sustainable marine conservation from each of the successful bids must be paid to the federal budget within one year. The contributions for lowering electricity costs must be paid in equal annual instalments to the transmission system operators required to connect the offshore wind farms over a period of 20 years beginning when a wind farm becomes operational from 2030 onwards.