Germany has awarded four offshore tenders for centrally surveyed areas with a bidding deadline of August 1, 2023.

Utilities RWE, Vattenfall and development company Waterkant Energy have been awarded four offshore wind areas in the North Sea in a tender worth EUR 784m, according to the German energy regulator. The four areas in the North Sea have a total capacity of 1.8GW, and the companies secured the rights to the areas, according to several media outlets.

RWE has been awarded two sites in the German part of the North Sea, where the German company intends to develop, build and operate two wind farms with a total capacity of 900MW.

It is the first time that a tender process with qualitative criteria has been carried out: a payment for the respective area, decarbonization of offshore expansion and the use of environmentally friendly foundation technologies are included.

With the award, companies will be eligible to complete a planning approval procedure for the construction and operation of wind turbines, as well as to be eligible for connection and grid connection capacity.

Approximately 90% of the proceeds from the tender will go towards reducing electricity costs, 5% towards preserving marine nature and 5% towards promoting sustainable fisheries.

(Translated using DeepL with additional editing by Simon Øst Vejbæk)