Germany Awards 490MW of Solar-Plus-Storage Capacity in Latest Auction, Prices Continue to Fall
Berlin, Germany – Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has awarded 490MW of capacity to solar-plus-storage projects in its latest innovation auction, demonstrating continued cost declines and strong market demand for combined renewable energy and storage solutions. The auction results, announced today, reveal successful bids ranging from 4.79 cents/kWh to 5.59 cents/kWh, with a volume-weighted average price of 5.31 cents/kWh.
This latest round marks a critically important drop from previous auctions, with the average price “considerably lower” than the 6.15 cents/kWh achieved in the July 2024 auction, which was already four times oversubscribed. Prior to that, the October 2024 round settled at 7.45 cents/kWh, and July’s auction at 6.15 cents/kWh,illustrating a consistent downward trend in pricing. The cumulative capacity bid also reached a new high, exceeding the 2GW mark set in the July auction.
Bavaria secured the largest share of awarded capacity with 122MW across 11 projects,followed by Schleswig-Holstein and brandenburg,each receiving approximately 50MW. Notably, all successful bids were for solar-plus-storage projects, highlighting their increasing competitiveness.
“The falling prices, fierce competition and high demand speak to the economics of renewable energy in Germany,” reflects the current market dynamics. Industry experts, including Brent Wanner, head of the World Energy Outlooks’ power sector unit at the International Energy Agency (IEA), have noted that solar-plus-storage is becoming “increasingly cost-competitive” in major markets globally. Though, Wanner also emphasized the need for market adaptation to better accommodate these co-located assets.
The declining costs are driven by falling prices for both solar equipment and battery technology. The IEA’s Renewables 2025 report forecasts that PV will account for around 80% of global renewables expansion over the next five years,largely due to its affordability and ease of deployment.
The results come as the German solar trade association,Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW-solar),this week called on the government to establish a legally binding target of 100GWh of energy storage capacity by 2030,signaling the industry’s ambition for continued growth in this sector.