The Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) put out to tender four areas in the North Sea and Baltic Sea with a total capacity of 7,000 MW for offshore wind turbines that have not been centrally pre-screened.
“The tenders are an important step towards achieving the offshore expansion target of 30 GW by 2030,” said Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency. “The capacity put out to tender today exceeds the previous annual tender volumes for offshore wind energy many times over.”
Three areas for offshore wind farms, each with a capacity of 2,000 MW, are located in the North Sea and one area for a capacity of 1,000 MW is located in the Baltic Sea. The areas in the North Sea are located about 120 km northwest of Helgoland and the area in the Baltic Sea about 25 km off the island of Rügen. The wind farms are scheduled to be commissioned in 2030.
Tenders for areas that have not been centrally studied
In order to achieve the expansion target of 30 GW, areas are now also being put out to tender where the bidders awarded the contract must carry out the preliminary investigations to be carried out prior to the construction of a wind farm under their own responsibility. There is no governmental preliminary investigation of the areas, which, for example, analyze the marine environment, the subsoil and wind and oceanographic conditions, in the case of the areas now put out to tender. The areas are therefore referred to as non-centrally pre-surveyed areas.
Dynamic bidding process with multiple zero-cent bids – reducing electricity costs and sustainable marine conservation
In each case, the contract is awarded to the bidder who declares the lowest funding requirement for a wind farm on the site. If several bidders forego subsidies for an area and submit bids with a bid value of zero cents per kilowatt hour, a so-called dynamic bidding procedure will decide on the award for the first time. The bidder with the highest willingness to pay is then awarded the contract. The winning bidder is determined in bidding rounds with increasing bidding levels. 90 percent of the proceeds from the dynamic bidding process will go toward reducing electricity costs, while 5 percent each will go toward marine nature conservation and the promotion of environmentally friendly fishing.
Bids until 1 June 2023
Bids must be submitted by 1 June 2023. After the bids have been examined, the award procedure has been conducted and, if necessary, the dynamic bidding procedure has been carried out, the bidders will be informed of the decision and the tender results will be published. The successful bidder will be entitled to apply to the competent Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency for planning approval for the construction of an offshore wind farm on the site. In addition, it is entitled to connection of the wind farm to be built to the electricity grid for the transmission of the electricity generated in the offshore wind turbines.
In addition to the tenders announced today, the Federal Network Agency will launch further tenders for offshore wind energy by 1 March 2023. These tenders concern areas centrally pre-screened by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency with a total capacity of 1,800 MW.
Source: Bundesnetzagentur
