German storage system maker Tesvolt said international activities, including integrating batteries with this Australian gold mine’s solar array, now accounts for about 40% of its business, but Germany remains important, too. Image: Tesvolt.

Success for project proposals combining solar PV with battery storage in Germany’s latest multiple technology tenders for renewable energy are proof of the importance of energy storage, the managing director of German energy storage association BVES has said.

The German Federal Network Agency ( Bundesneztagentur ) published the results of its third round of ‘Innovation Tenders’ on 18 August. Bidders had to put forward projects that combine at least two different eligible technology types per site that will share a grid connection point. Winners get a “fixed market premium” paid for their energy as well as market revenues they can earn.

A total of 250MW was auctioned for. The Bundesneztagentur said however that the auction was slightly undersubscribed, with 23 bids that didn’t quite add up to the 250MW cap. Due to this undersubscription, the regulator applied a statutory volume control mechanism, which meant bids were awarded until 80% of bid volumes of accepted bids was reached or exceeded. Six bids had been disqualified due to errors made in their bid proposals.

Read the full article here.