Last week Germany paved the way for a major upgrade in its renewable energy capacity when it approved onshore wind parks capable of producing 807 megawatts (MW) of power. This clean energy comes with an economic bonus since the final price tag for electricity from the project come in lower than expected requiring a subsidy of just 5.71 euro cents per kilowatt hour. Subsidies at that level mark a 20% reduction in price from previous projects, causing the German government to state competition in the industry is bringing down prices for consumers.

The auction was run by the energy regulator Bundernetzagentur which selected 70 projects from 256 bidders. The President of Bundesmetzagentur Jochen Homann, indicated he was satisfied with the level of bidding and competition at the auction and pleased with the overall result. This auction was the first held under the newest changes to the renewable feed-in tariff law. As such, it was observed carefully by participants at all levels of the industry looking to gain insight prior to the next auction.

With over 46,000 MW of capacity, Germany has the highest capacity for wind production in Europe. This makes the central European nation the third highest wind power producer in the world behind China and the United States. Depending upon the strength and duration of winds during a given year Germany can produce 10-14% of it electricity needs through wind turbines. This accounts for approximately half of all German renewable energy sources and is part of the German shift to renewable energy which it hopes to have completed by the middle of the century.

To meet this goal Germany recently plans on holding two more auctions this year and approving a total of 2,500 MW of additional capacity. This is in addition to a recent auction in which bids were taken for zero subsidy offshore projects slated to begin in the middle of the next decade.