RWE has won almost half of Germany’s first long-term capacity auction because it paid for the groundwork before the rules were final.
The Bundesnetzagentur today awarded the Essen-based utility contracts for three hydrogen-compatible gas-fired plants in North Rhine-Westphalia. Voerde is about 730 reduced megawatts (rMW), and Weisweiler and Werne are about 700 rMW each. That makes roughly 2,100 rMW of the 4,500 rMW on offer. Under the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act (StromVKG), only 85% of a gas plant’s installed capacity counts in the tender.
Economy minister Katherina Reiche said 41 bids came in, totalling almost 12 GW, and eleven won. The average award price was around €155,000, well below the €244,000 ceiling per megawatt of reduced capacity per year. Leag, Gaskraftwerk Leipheim and Stadtwerke Karlsruhe took the remaining contracts. The winners will be paid for availability for 15 years from 2031. Consumers will cover the bill of roughly €800 million a year through a new levy.
RWE’s edge was readiness. It chose its engineering partners early. A Técnicas Reunidas and GE Vernova consortium is planning Voerde, a plant of around 850 MW nominal capacity. Ansaldo Energia and Técnicas Reunidas have been working on Werne since May 2024. RWE also secured manufacturing capacity for key components and started approval procedures ahead of the auction. As a result, construction of the first plant is due to start within weeks. That is a lesson for developers who waited for legislative certainty before spending money.
The tender design shaped who could win. Plants must deliver full output for at least ten consecutive hours. Storage developers say that rule effectively shuts batteries out. Plants must also be hydrogen-capable and able to run climate-neutrally by 2045. At least half of the listed components must be manufactured in the European Economic Area. Environmental group BUND has called the scheme a fossil subsidy programme.
“Hydrogen-compatible” describes the turbines, not a fuel contract. Nothing published today ties the three plants to a hydrogen supply. RWE is, however, building one. At Lingen in Lower Saxony, its GET H2 Nukleus electrolysers are being commissioned: 200 MW by the end of 2026, rising to 300 MW from 2027. In August, the first certified renewable hydrogen from Lingen reached Marl in the Ruhr by pipeline. A salt-cavern store at Gronau-Epe is due in 2027. TotalEnergies has signed a 15-year deal for 30,000 tonnes a year from 2030 for its Leuna refinery. Voerde and Werne both sit close to planned hydrogen pipeline routes.
The awards also fit RWE’s wider plans. The company already runs about 4.2 GW of gas-fired capacity in Germany. It plans to invest around €9 billion in flexible generation, battery storage and hydrogen production by 2031. Today’s contracts give part of that budget a 15-year revenue stream.
The next round comes quickly. The Bundesnetzagentur will announce a second 4.5 GW tender on 10 November, with bids due at the end of December. The 30 losing bidders now know the average price they have to beat.
