Offshore wind energy expansion in jeopardy: no bidders for new sites

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According to the Offshore Wind Energy Act (WindSeeG), 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy are to be installed off the German coast by 2030. The way to achieve this is quickly explained on paper: the federal government regularly invites tenders for new areas, which the industry then applies to build on.

In the case of the two sea areas N-10.1 and N-10.2, however, this calculation did not work out in August: Not a single bidder applied for the areas, which provide for 2.5 gigawatts of wind power. The tender ended unsuccessfully. Only two months earlier, the tender for area N-9.4 narrowly escaped this fate: two participants were found for it. In comparison, a year earlier, two sites had attracted the interest of seven bidders.

For the associations that support the expansion of offshore wind energy, such as the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation, the mechanical engineering industry association VDMA, and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), the reasons lie in the conditions of the tendering process. They are calling for a reform that reduces the project risks for investors.

Fixed price for electricity sales required

A central demand is a change to the electricity purchase model. For current tenders, wind farm operators would sell their electricity on a market basis, explains Fritz Halla from Enervis Energy Advisors GmbH, a management consultancy specializing in the energy industry. The consultant has examined the current tendering process in a study commissioned by the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation.

According to Halla, the market-based sale of electricity is associated with major uncertainties. In 2025 and 2024, exchange electricity prices have fallen slightly compared to previous years. “This does not inspire confidence in investors that they will be able to sell wind power at cost-covering prices according to their calculations for the tendering competition,” says Halla. And electricity supply contracts can only be concluded for a maximum of ten to twelve years. “For a wind farm whose profitability is calculated for a period of at least 20 years, this is only half of the calculation,” explains the consultant.

The interest groups advocate the possibility of bilateral contracts for difference (CfDs) to reduce the financial risk for investors. “Two-sided contracts for difference would ensure that investors can plan extremely reliably,” Halla continues. In these, the sale of the megawatt hour of wind power would be agreed at a fixed price, explains the consultant: if the real sales revenue is below this threshold, the difference would be subsidized by the federal government; if it is above this threshold, the wind farm operator pays the difference to the federal government. “The only financial uncertainty would therefore be in the wind yield factor.”

Power density prescribed too high

Planning certainty for electricity sales is not the only major criticism of the current award procedure. The BDEW also warns that the power density of the wind areas put out to tender is too high. The WindSeeG, which defines the regulations for the tendering process, must consider shading effects between and within offshore wind farms due to the dense development in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The Enervis consultant also believes that the rather unfavorable natural conditions of the specific sea areas N-10.1 and N-10.2 are partly responsible for the current failed tender. “Both areas have comparatively low expected wind energy yields,” adds Halla. At the same time, the water is quite deep and the seabed is complicated, which increases the construction and installation costs of the turbines.

New tender under different conditions

This is what is now happening with the N-10.1 and N-10.2 sites: the Federal Network Agency is putting the sites out to tender again in June 2026 under different conditions. There are two types of tendering procedure with different conditions. Areas N-10.1 and N-10.2 are “tenders for centrally pre-investigated areas.” These have been pre-examined by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, i.e., conditions such as subsoil and wind conditions have been examined. The Federal Network Agency explains that no feed-in tariffs are planned for them. Investors offer money to be allowed to build on them and also state which qualitative criteria they meet. This concerns, for example, the contribution to decarbonization, the natural compatibility of the foundation technology used (foundation), or the securing of skilled workers.

As there were no bids, the Federal Network Agency is now putting the sites out to tender under the somewhat loose regulations of “tenders for sites not centrally pre-inspected.” Here, the qualitative criteria no longer apply, and there is the possibility of a feed-in tariff. Only if several bids, so-called zero-cent bids, do not indicate a need for funding for their project does a dynamic bidding process take place in the second step, in which investors offer money for the development. This procedure was used, for example, in the tender for site N-9.4, which was completed in June and for which two bidders were found. The winner will pay 180 million euros to the federal government for the development rights for a total output of one gigawatt.

(dgi)