RWE Renewables Wins German North Sea Wind Auction for 980 MW Project

New York-based RWE Renewables Offshore HoldCo Four GmbH has won a tender from the German Government for the development of an offshore wind energy farm of capacity of 980 MW in the German North Sea. RWE had proposed to develop the wind farm in N-7.2 Zone that too without availing the state subsidies.

Klaus Müller, President of Germany’s Federal Network Agency, said, ”The zero-cent bid further confirms the attractiveness of investments in offshore wind energy in Germany. It shows that companies assume that they can market wind power profitably.” Federal Network Agency is the regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets.

Vattenfall’s Right to Step-in

The government announcement also held that Vattenfall, a Sweden-based energy player, has the step-in rights for the N-7.2 area. The rights have been awarded to companies that participated in the tender but couldn’t make it through the second transitional tenders in previous auctions. Vatenfall has the right to enter upto October 31, 2022 by matching the bid offered by RWE. It has this right through Vattenfall Atlantis 1 and Global Tech 2 Offshore Wind GmbH.

The German agency said that the tender award also entails the right to a grid connection that is financed by the power consumer through grid fees. The winner can also operate the offshore wind farm for more than 25 years. The farm will be operational in 2027.

The winning company may also apply to the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) to get the approval for its plan to develop an offshore wind energy farm in the zone.

BSH had already held that the area is suitable for offshore wind energy development as it had previously examined the area for the Federal Network Agency. It had examined the marine environment, subsoil, wind and oceanographic conditions thoroughly. Now the costs of these preliminary investigations will be borne on to the bidder who has been awarded the contract.