March 2025 German PV Auction Oversubscribed Again As Strike Prices Dip

On April 23, 2025, Germany's Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) published the results of its March 1, 2025 auction for ground-mounted photovoltaic systems, confirming yet another oversubscribed round in its first-segment solar tenders . The auction invited bids for 2 625 069 kW of capacity but received 420 submissions totaling 3 839 000 kW . Of these, 271 projects covering 2 638 389 kW were awarded contracts, with 35 bids excluded for non-compliance .

"This auction continues to attract high participation; competition remains strong, and award values are still declining," remarked Bundesnetzagentur President Klaus Müller, highlighting the agency's support for controllable PV installations that can align output with market demand . The successful sites spanned the country: Bavaria led with 607 MW awarded across 85 projects, followed by Brandenburg at 367 MW (24 projects) and Lower Saxony at 315 MW (31 projects) .

Although the statutory cap for bids this year was set at € 0.0680 per kWh, winning offers ranged from € 0.0399 to € 0.0488/kWh . The volume-weighted average strike price of 4.66 ct/kWh marks a slight drop from the 4.76 ct/kWh average recorded in the December 1, 2024 auction, which saw 242 projects receive 2 150 MW in awards . In that previous round, bidders submitted 524 proposals totaling 4 708 MW, more than twice the offered volume, underscoring persistent developer appetite .

Looking ahead, the Bundesnetzagentur has scheduled its next first-segment PV auction for July 1, 2025, as Germany continues to ramp up utility-scale solar capacity . This auction operates under the EEG 2023 framework, which fixes the maximum reference value for first-segment solar tenders in 2025 at 6.80 ct/kWh . It also complements the federal "Solarpaket," which targets 18 GW of new PV installations in 2025 on the path to reaching 215 GW of capacity by 2030