Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has awarded 486 MW of solar plus storage projects under its innovation auction.

The successful bid prices ranged from €0.0479 (~$0.056)/kWh to €0.0559 (~$0.065)/kWh, with an average volume-weighted award price of €0.0531(~$0.062)/kWh.

Bundesnetzagentur said this price is lower than the ceiling price of €0.09 (~$0.1)/kWh and the previous auction’s average volume-weighted awarded price of €0.0615 (~$0.072)/kWh

Bids in innovation auctions can only be submitted for combinations of different types of renewable energy or renewable and storage projects.

The tender was oversubscribed more than four times, receiving 163 bids for 2,182 MW. Of these bids, 33 with a combined volume of 490 MW were selected.

Bavaria received the largest allocation with 122 MW across 11 bids. It was followed by Schleswig-Holstein and Brandenburg, receiving 54 MW and 51 MW, respectively, across two bids each.

In August this year, Bundesnetzagentur awarded 2,271 MW of ground-mounted solar projects categorized under the ‘first segment,’ which are installations located on structures that are neither buildings nor noise barriers. The tender saw high demand, with 313 bids submitted for a total capacity of 2,820 MW, exceeding the tendered volume of 2,266 MW. Of these, 258 bids amounting to 2,271 MW were awarded contracts, while 36 were disqualified. The awarded prices ranged between €0.0400 (~$0.0468)/kWh and €0.0626 (~$0.0732)/kWh, with the average volume-weighted price settling at €0.0484(~$0.0566)/kWh.

In July, the Federal Network Agency awarded 255 MW of solar projects on buildings and noise barriers in the previous tender round. Out of the 127 bids received for a total capacity of 274 MW in response to the tendered capacity of 283 MW, the agency awarded contracts to 118 bids with a combined capacity of 255 MW. The awarded tariffs ranged from €0.069 (~$0.0745)/kWh to €0.1038 (~$0.1121)/kWh. The volume-weighted average award value came in at €0.0922 (~$0.0996)/kWh.