Indeed, this consistent demand for new government-backed renewable energy, and the government’s willingness to support the energy transition through auctions, has been the driving force behind record-breaking renewable energy capacity procured through auctions. Figures from SolarPower Europe, published last month, show that a record 25.2GW of new solar capacity was awarded through government-backed tenders in 2025.

“This support is very much useful to find the business case and to find the profitability, so that’s why we decided to participate,” says Michał Swół, CIO at R.Power, who speaks to PV Tech Premium this week.

R.Power is a Polish independent power producer (IPP) active in several countries, including Germany, and Swół describes the German auction landscape as one that is “very important”, particularly for IPPs looking to secure finance for an upcoming project, but one that could learn from other markets, particular with regard to the integration of battery energy storage systems (BESS) into the auction design.

Auctions providing revenue certainty

Germany has long been a leader in terms of national auctions, having awarded nearly 25GW of new solar PV capacity through auctions between 2021 and 2025, according to SolarPower Europe. The trade body also notes that Germany accounted for more than 20% of the EU’s total solar capacity awarded through auctions in each of the last four years, and Swół says that this level of sustained support has been of significant benefit for developers as power prices fluctuate.

“The pricing from PPAs for pure solar in Germany is going down, so this support scheme is very important,” he explains. Figures from intelligence firm Pexapark show that, in February this year, the average price of a PPA signed in Germany fell by 1.3% month-on-month.

However, corporate PPAs can be significantly affected by broader power price disruption, particularly in the context of the conflict in the Middle East. This week, a Pexapark forecast said that the prices of a solar PPA signed in Germany could increase by 24% in the coming months, and Swół says that national auctions can be a key tool in minimising this disruption for developers looking to secure finance.

“For us, as an IPP, we are, all the time, looking for commercialisation in the long-run; to be able to go to the bank and have financing, but also to be able to meet the criteria that we have from our investors, who expect a portfolio to be secure in terms of the revenue,” he says.

“I believe that it is very good that the German government wants to support this commercialisation, because it helps a lot on our side, in terms of financing [and] making investment decisions.”

Swół also says that R.Power has sought to take advantage of solar-plus-storage tenders in Germany, which, according to SolarPower Europe, is the only EU member state that offered hybrid renewable energy-plus-storage tenders in 2025. The trade body said that, despite these auctions being technology neutral, solar-plus-storage remains the “dominant winning configuration”, drawing “exceptionally strong interest”, with four times as much submitted capacity as was offered.

“In the German case, we’re trying to deal with co-location as well,” Swół explains. “In autumn we participated in an innovation tender that was the first co-located auction; this is an interesting type of support because, in fact, this is the first one that we’ve seen in the market, where the government wants to support co-location as a technology.”

Incorporating storage and ‘green BESS’

When asked about the storage component, Swół says that R.Power is looking to expand its operational storage capacity until it is in line with its operational solar capacity. He describes the company’s Polish BESS projects as “pilot projects”, compared to an 800MW solar portfolio currently in operation, and says that hybrid tenders are a key facilitator of co-located projects in Germany.

“There are specifics in the German market,” he explains. “Right now, it’s very challenging to have standalone battery connections.”

Germany is also a strong example of how to incentivise solar-plus-storage auctions, compared to other European countries. In its auction report, SolarPower Europe calls on governments to “ensure support scheme designs are adapted to the hybridisation of PV systems,” particularly given the increasing attitude in Europe that the co-location of solar and storage is the most effective way to deploy renewable energy capacity in a manner that is profitable.

However, Swół says that the German auction system is not perfect, and could be improved further. Just this week, the government announced the results of an undersubscribed rooftop solar auction, and Swół argues that market design, more broadly, could be improved to better facilitate new BESS additions.

Specifically, co-located storage systems can currently only charge from the generation projects to which they are attached, rather than charging and discharging from the grid directly, enabling BESS projects to participate in arbitrage and ancillary services, a system he describes as “green BESS”.

“That type of storage is not very efficient from our perspective, because you need to spend to buy the equipment and invest in the facility, which, in fact, only works for certain periods of time, which is different to the standalone case, where you can charge and discharge both ways from the grid easily,” he explains. “You can participate in arbitrage, merchant and ancillary services all the time.”

“In the long-run, it would be better, definitely, if the grid was opened for storage, to be able to fully participate in the market,” he continues. “In such a case, it would be much more attractive for offtakers to provide the offtake for co-location projects, which can do, in terms of storage, whatever you want.”

Learning from other markets

As R.Power works in several countries, Swół also has a clear perspective on how the German market compares to others in Europe, particularly its home country of Poland.

“In Poland, you can have a co-located project that, on the storage side, can be charged from the grid constantly,” he explains. “You can do many cycles for the day—one or two, or even more—and [engage in] arbitrage and ancillary services. That type of [system] is easier for commercialisation because it’s easier to find the revenue that covers the capex. It’s also easier to find an offtaker for the prices for such a project.

“Italy also has this capacity market scheme for storage—at least it is going to have the auction this year—and that can support banking, investment decisions and project finance.”

Italy emerged as a key contributor to Europe’s auction landscape last year, with the FER X and MACSE auctions awarding close to 8GW of solar capacity and 10GWh of batteries, respectively. Figures from SolarPower Europe show that Italy awarded double the renewable energy capacity of Germany through auctions in 2025, highlighting how Germany may have been the leader in European auctions for years, but that it is not unique in offering routes to market for renewable energy developers.

“To be honest, I believe that for Germany, and for our markets in Europe, there should be more and more solutions like in Poland [with the] capacity market, or in Italy [with the] MACSE scheme,” explains Swół, highlighting ways in which the German government could improve its auction design by learning from other European countries.

“These types of solutions provide a certain type of certainty in terms of the revenue stack in the long-run,” he continues. “This is very useful in terms of finding commercialisation and the business case for making investment decisions and having project finance.”

This is particularly true for the storage side of the equation, with many, including Swół, suggesting that bigger and better integration of BESS into Europe’s energy mix will be a key contributor to the energy transition.

“I believe this is something to be considered in all markets in Europe, as a type of solution to support the development of storage, because storage is a game-changer for the energy transition in Europe,” he says. “It provides an opportunity to meet supply and demand, and that’s why it should be supported by the government; at the end of the day, [that’s] the most effective use of energy which can be produced by renewables.”

Ultimately, Germany’s auctions have been a driver of new solar capacity, providing crucial revenue certainty as the renewable energy sector sees its prices buffeted by macroeconomic and geopolitical disruption. But as storage becomes a more integral part of the energy mix, German auction design ought to be updated to reflect that, at least in Swół’s opinion.

“There should be some kind of support from the government for grid operators to enhance the grids in a way that can absorb the storage,” he says. “This should be the priority for the governments, to think [about] it holistically.”

“The German market is the example where this is going slowly. It’s very difficult to obtain the connections to the grid for storage in this way.”

Leaders in the European solar sector are turning their attention to this year’s SolarPlus Europe event, to be held in Italy on 15-16 April by PV Tech publisher Solar Media. Information about the event, including the full agenda and options to purchase tickets are available on the official website.