The German Federal Network Agency, the Bundesnetzagentur, has decreased the price ceiling for next year’s solar PV auctions.
Unlike the price ceiling for wind, which has not changed compared to 2024, all three auctions involving solar PV have been revised down to take into account the decrease in the forecast levelised cost of electricity, said the Bundesnetzagentur.
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Both ground-mounted solar PV auctions and rooftop solar PV auctions will see their price ceiling decrease in 2025. The new maximum bidding price for the former has been set at €0.068/kWh, down from the €0.0735/kWh set in 2024. Despite that decrease, the price remains higher than the price ceiling in 2022 when it was at €0.059/kWh.
The price for rooftop solar PV systems will be higher than for ground-mounted systems, with a maximum bidding price set at €0.104/kWh. Again, this is a decrease from the ceiling price set for rooftop auctions held in 2024, when it was €0.1125/kWh.
Meanwhile, innovation tenders innovation tenders – which combine solar PV and battery energy storage systems (BESS) – will have a price ceiling of €0.09/kWh (US$0.0935/kWh), slightly lower than €0.0918/kWh set in 2024.
Oversubscriptions for all three auctions
Germany’s latest ground-mounted PV auction ended up being oversubscribed. In total, the auction received more than 4.2GW of solar PV applications for 2,148MW of capacity tendered. The average volume-weighted price for this auction ended up being €0.0505/kWh.
Results from the latest rooftop solar auctions were unveiled earlier this month. As has been the case with solar PV auctions in Germany this year, the auction ended up being 1.7 times oversubscribed, with 434MW of capacity bid. In total, the Bundesnetzagentur awarded 259MW of rooftop solar with a volume-weighted average price of €0.0904/kWh.
Both ceiling prices remain higher than the average price observed in Germany’s latest innovation tender held in September 2024. This tender, like the others, ended up being oversubscribed with 1.8GW of capacity bid for 583MW tendered and an average volume-weighted price of €0.0709/kWh.
The next tender for rooftop solar PV systems will be held on 1 February 2025, while the next innovation tender is scheduled for 1 May 2025, with another set for 1 September 2025.
“The new price ceilings create a reliable framework for the auctions and ensure that the renewable energy expansion targets can be met. At the same time, they help keep the costs of support down as low as possible,” said Klaus Müller, president of the Bundesnetzagentur.
Despite the price ceiling decreasing in 2025, Germany remains the leading European country in solar PV additions, and by far. In 2024, the country added 16.4GW of solar PV, up 1GW from 2023, according to trade association SolarPower Europe.
