Germany has launched a new tender aimed at adding 1.95GW of utility-scale solar PV capacity to arable and grassland in impoverished regions. The deadline for tenders was set for March 1, 2023, with the highest bid price set at €0.0737/kWh.

The tender will apply to arable and grassland in impoverished regions, with each region assigned a maximum quota ranging from a maximum of 500MW of solar capacity in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg to 35MW in Hesse. With this latest solar auction, Germany will allocate a third of the total capacity in the 2023 auction.

Ahead of the new tender, Germany's Federal Network Agency raised the price ceiling for tenders for ground-mounted solar in an attempt to attract more participation in the auction, as the latest solar tender ended up being unsubscribed. In a similar move, Germany has also raised the price ceiling for rooftop solar tenders and is expected to increase the number of bids for its solar tenders in 2023.

Despite the tender offer of 890 MW for utility-scale solar, the results of the December tender ended up awarding 609 MW of solar capacity out of 677 MW of applications, as the price cap was not adjusted accordingly at the time.

Germany is not the only European country with undersubscribed solar tenders for 2022, with Spain's recent auction awarding no solar PV capacity, while Poland and Italy awarded less capacity than in previous tenders.

In addition, Germany has received approval from the European Commission for its nearly $30 billion renewable energy plan, which will run until the end of 2026, which includes an increase in the number and volume of tenders for rooftop and ground-mounted solar PV.Editor/XingWentao