Germany has launched a new wind power auction to award contracts for renewable energy installations with total capacity of 670 MW.

The highest bidding price for commercial bidders has been set at EUR 6.3 cents per kWh, and the lowest bids will be awarded contracts until the volumes from the bidding round are covered.

Bids must be submitted by May 2 2018 at midnight CET, according to a statement from Germany's Bundesnetzagentur.

This is the second German auction in 2018 of a total four. The result of the first auction of 709 MW showed an average price of EUR 4.6 cents/kWh.

This was much higher than the EUR 3.82 cents/kWh, which was the result in the preceding auction, and it was welcomed by the stock market, where shares soared at companies like Vestas, Nordex and Siemens Gamesa.

"It's actually a significant rise. It's the first time in memory that we've seen a positive data point here. This is very good news."

"Investors have been very nervous about prices. This is a signal that they won't just continue to decline. It's good news for income opportunities in the short term," said chief analyst at Sydbank, Jacob Pedersen, in early February to Ritzau Finans.

Another contributing factor for the increase was a change in regulations for citizen projects. These project were previously allowed to participate without all approvals in place.

English Edit: Gretchen Deverell Pedersen

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