Germany's Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has allocated 1,952 MW of PV capacity in the nation's first tender for utility-scale solar this year. The capacity was assigned across 245 bids and slightly exceeds the 1,950 MW that the Bundesnetzagentur had planned to allocate. The tender was significantly oversubscribed, with 347 project proposals totaling 2,869 MW.

The agency had set a ceiling price of €0.0737 ($0.081)/kWh for the auction. The final average price came in at €0.0703/kWh, with final prices ranging from €0.0529/kWh and €0.0730/kWh.

The southern state of Bavaria secured the largest share of allocated capacity with 845 MW, followed by Brandenburg with 223 MW and Rhineland-Palatinate with 163 MW.

The Bundesnetzagentur also revealed that around 851 MW were assigned for projects on arable land and grasslands in disadvantaged areas. Another 755 MW were awarded for PV projects along motorways and railways, it said.

“For the first time since June 2022, the amount of bids received has significantly exceeded the amount of planned capacity,” said Klaus Müller, the president of the Bundesnetzagentur. “Never before have so many bids been submitted in such a tender by the Federal Network Agency. It is now a matter of maintaining this high level of bids in order to push ahead with the necessary expansion in the long term.”

The agency allocated 609 MW of solar capacity in the previous large-scale PV tender. It was undersubscribed and concluded with a final average price of €0.0580/kWh, up slightly from €0.0510/kWh in the last procurement round. Bids ranged from €0.0520/kWh to €0.0590/kWh.

The Bundesnetzagentur will hold the next tender for ground-mounted PV on July 1. It says that it hopes to allocate 1,611 MW. It says it will also accept project proposals for solar plants with capacities of up to 100 MW for the first time.