Latest European Onshore Wind Auctions Prove Technologies’ Importance
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A suite of recent onshore wind energy auctions in the European Union have highlighted the increasing importance of the technology as a contributor to the energy transition towards the EU 2030 Climate & Energy objectives.
WindEurope, the European trade association for wind energy, has highlighted several recent onshore wind energy auctions which all delivered competitive prices — an important data point for European Union Member States as they have less than two weeks before they must submit the final versions of their 2030 National Energy & Climate Plans to the European Commission.
Unsurprisingly, WindEurope took the recent auction results as an opportunity to further highlight the importance of onshore wind to the energy transition. Specifically, WindEurope believes that “Onshore wind energy will make a key contribution to fulfilling the 2030 targets cost-effectively” and that “This month’s latest onshore wind auction results from across Europe proved again that onshore wind remains the cheapest form of new power generation.”
The auctions in question took place in Poland, Greece, and Denmark. Seven onshore wind projects were awarded contracts in Greece for a total capacity of 224 megawatts (MW) and an average total price of €57/MWh (US$63/MWh).
In Denmark, a recent technology-neutral auction delivered record low prices at an average of only €2/MWh ($2.22/MWh, DKK 15.4/MWh) and included total of seven projects with combined wind and solar capacity of 271 MW — including two onshore wind contracts amounting to 72 MW (as well as another two contracts are for 97 MW of hybrid wind and solar projects and three projects amounting to 83 MW will be awarded to solar projects). The lowest onshore price was awarded at only DKK 10/MWh ($1.48/MWh, €1.34/MWh).
In Poland, another 2.2 GW of onshore wind was awarded contracts in the most recent auction at an average price of €45/MWh.
“Onshore wind will play an ever increasing role in decarbonising the European economy,” said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson. “The EU Commission foresee a massive expansion in offshore wind by 2050 but an even greater increase in onshore wind capacity. The latest auction results clearly show that onshore wind is cheap and that Governments across Europe want more of it. Governments need to reflect this in their final National Energy & Climate Plans for 2030 – with clear and ambitious volumes and auction schedules, and streamlined rules for permitting new wind farms and repowering existing ones.”
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