German agency awards new onshore wind, solar power licences

Germany’s network agency said on Wednesday it had awarded licences to build 677 megawatts (MW) of renewable power installations under the first so-called innovation tender that promotes combining generation and storage activities.
The authority is trying to reverse a lull in applications for green power projects that threatens progress in the country’s green energy transformation.
Interest has fallen sharply since 2017, when generous 20-year feed-in tariff guarantees, awarded under a 2000 law to promote renewables, were abandoned in favour of an auction-based programme.
The innovation tenders – introduced and held alongside regular auctions for new capacity – are meant to reward storage technology aimed at relieving transport grids of the stress arising from the intermittency of green power.