German utilities EnBW and TotalEnergies have emerged as winners in the latest offshore wind tender in Germany, collectively committing just over €3 billion in lease fees to secure development rights.
EnBW clinched the rights for the 1GW N-12.3 site in the German North Sea with a winning bid of €1.1 million per megawatt. Georg Stamatelopoulos, CEO of EnBW, highlighted the significance of the win, stating, “Winning the auction represents another important milestone in the restructuring of our generation portfolio.”
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Meanwhile, a consortium led by TotalEnergies, operating through the special purpose company Offshore Wind One GmbH, secured the contract for the 1.5GW N-11.2 area with a bid value of €1.3 million per megawatt. TotalEnergies will pay close to €2 billion in lease fees for the rights.
The bidding process, managed by the federal network agency BNetzA, involved multiple rounds with increasing bid levels. Klaus Müller, President of BNetzA, emphasized the attractiveness of investing in German offshore wind energy, noting, “The results show the attractiveness of investing in offshore wind energy in Germany.”
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EnBW plans to leverage its success to further expand renewable energy capacity, aiming for between 10GW and 11.5GW by 2030 and becoming a climate-neutral company by 2035. Peter Heydecker, EnBW's Board Member for Sustainable Generation Infrastructure, expressed confidence in the ability to deliver cost-efficient offshore wind projects, citing ongoing developments like the ‘He Dreiht' project in the North Sea.
“We are now looking forward to building another offshore wind farm in our home market of Germany,” Heydecker added.
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EnBW intends to sell a significant portion of the electricity generated from these offshore wind farms through power purchase agreements (PPAs) with industrial customers, underscoring their commitment to decarbonizing the industry.
Financially, the proceeds from the offshore tenders will contribute to reducing electricity costs, supporting marine conservation efforts, and promoting environmentally friendly fishing practices. Portions of the bid values allocated to marine protection will be disbursed to the federal budget within a year, while electricity cost reductions will be paid to the transmission system operator over a 20-year period starting from the wind farm's completion in 2031.
