German solar sector wants removal of capacity cap for PV

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About 96% of the projects selected in Germany’s first solar auction held in 2015 have reached completion, according to the country’s grid regulator Bundesnetzagentur.

The German solar association Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft (BSW-Solar) estimates that the results of the first six auctions for large-scale solar show the extraordinary performance of PV and its excellent price/performance ratio.

The high level of participation to the auctions, as well as the high completion rate, also show that the solar sector has accepted the auction mechanism. Furthermore, BSW-Solar said that the price for power from large-scale solar has now reached €0.066/kWh in Germany, thus becoming lower than that for electricity produced by new fossil fuel power plants. “There is no more reason to further curtail photovoltaic,” said BSW-Solar CEO Carsten Körnig.

Körnig added that, in the short-term, it will be necessary to triple the capacity to be allocated in the auctions. The cost of solar power in Germany could further drop, Körning explained, if the plant size limits and constraints on where projects can be located would be loosened up.

Körning also said that the German government should find a way to enable the participation of energy cooperatives to the auctions. Under the current auction mechanism, in fact, cooperatives have no chances to see their projects selected due to the high competitiveness of the bids submitted by professional investors.

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