Germany's September innovation tender clears at 5.14 ct/kWh, all solar-plus-storage

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Germany's second innovation tender of 2026 has cleared lower than the first. Every megawatt awarded went to solar paired with storage.

The Bundesnetzagentur published the results of the 1 September 2026 round on 29 September. It received 53 bids for 678 MW against a tendered volume of 475 MW, excluded four bids and awarded 32 bids for 480 MW. Award values ranged from 4.50 to 5.40 ct/kWh, with a volume-weighted average of 5.14 ct/kWh. That is 0.20 ct/kWh below the 5.34 ct/kWh average of the May round and well below the maximum bid value of 7.13 ct/kWh.

The price fell even though less volume was bid. In May the regulator received 46 bids for 749 MW against the same 475 MW. In September the bid volume was 678 MW. Winning bidders still priced lower, with the lowest award down from 4.75 ct/kWh in May to 4.50 ct/kWh.

The geography is concentrated. Bavaria took 177 MW across 12 awards, Brandenburg 94 MW across four and North Rhine-Westphalia 48 MW across four. The awards are deemed notified on 6 October 2026.

For developers the result confirms that co-located storage is now the standard way to compete in this tender. A battery behind the same connection point lets a solar plant move part of its output away from the midday hours where capture prices are weakest and negative price exposure is highest.

It also matters beyond the tender. The award value sets a supported reference for hybrid assets. The gap between that reference and what a corporate offtaker will pay under a PPA is what decides whether a project bids into the scheme, signs a PPA or combines both. That comparison depends on the hybrid asset's capture profile, its negative price risk, curtailment risk and balancing risk, which differ materially from a standalone solar plant.

The scheme runs two rounds a year, on 1 May and 1 September, so the next reference point arrives in spring. SEMT brings market intelligence, origination and revenue monitoring into one place, so operators can compare a supported award against live PPA and capture price levels for solar and storage in Germany. If you would like to look at the numbers for a hybrid project in more detail, you can sign up at https://synertics.io/signup/ or reach us at info@synertics.io.