IN Brief:
- Germany’s Federal Network Agency has opened registration for forthcoming dispatchable capacity auctions.
- The first two 2026 tender rounds are planned for 8 September and 22 December, with 4.5GW available in each.
- Further auctions are expected to include generation facilities and controllable loads, subject to legislative and state aid approval.
Bundesnetzagentur, Germany’s Federal Network Agency, has opened bidder registration for forthcoming dispatchable capacity auctions under the proposed Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act.
The agency has begun registration before the legislative process is complete, allowing potential bidders to prepare for the planned auction timetable. Bid submission will be handled electronically, with participants able to complete authentication and registration through the relevant digital system.
The draft framework envisages two tenders in 2026 for generation facilities capable of producing electricity over longer periods. The first auction is scheduled for 8 September 2026 and the second for 22 December 2026, with 4.5GW of capacity available in each round.
If the full 9GW is not awarded through the two 2026 rounds, a further tender is planned for 18 May 2027. A separate 2GW auction open to all generation facilities is planned for the same date.
Additional auctions are expected in 2028 and 2029, with both generation facilities and controllable loads eligible to participate. The proposed law still requires completion of the national legislative process and approval under EU state aid rules before the framework can be fully implemented.
The registration process follows Germany’s earlier approval of draft capacity legislation, which set up 11GW of reliability procurement through a structure outlined at electricalnews.co.uk. That framework is designed to support supply security during periods when renewable generation is insufficient to meet demand.
Germany’s power system is moving through a structural rebalancing. Wind and solar are expected to supply a larger share of annual electricity demand, while coal-fired capacity continues to face retirement pressure and gas-fired assets remain exposed to policy, fuel, and emissions conditions. Firm capacity procurement is being used to ensure the residual load can still be served when weather-dependent generation is low.
Capacity auctions address a different requirement from renewable support mechanisms. They do not primarily reward energy volume; they procure availability and reliability. Assets awarded capacity contracts must be capable of operating when system conditions require them, with payment linked to their role in adequacy rather than to their annual generation output alone.
The first tenders focus on longer-duration electricity production, which may favour plant capable of sustaining output across extended low-renewable periods. Later inclusion of controllable loads broadens the framework, bringing industrial flexibility and demand-side response closer to conventional generation in market design.
The technology mix will depend on detailed eligibility rules, operating obligations, emissions requirements, financing conditions, and grid connection availability. Gas-fired plant, hydrogen-ready generation, biomass, storage, and demand response could all participate in different parts of the framework, although each faces different engineering and commercial constraints.
For system planners, the German programme illustrates the growing separation between decarbonisation targets and adequacy procurement. High renewable penetration reduces fossil generation volume, but it does not remove the requirement for dependable capacity. The market design challenge is to secure that capacity without locking in assets that conflict with long-term emissions targets or distort flexibility investment.
The first operational test will be whether registered bidders can convert capacity awards into financeable, permitted, connected, and available resources. Auction design can define the reliability requirement, but the grid only benefits when assets are built or contracted, tested under dispatch conditions, and available during the scarcity periods they were procured to cover.
