Germany Gas Plant Auction Awards 5,160 rMW, Mostly to RWE and LEAG

Germany's Bundesnetzagentur, the federal network regulator, awarded 11 bids totaling 5,160 megawatts of reduced capacity (rMW) on 3 November 2026 in its first long-term tender, at an average €155,296 per rMW a year, it said.

The tender, run under the Electricity Supply Security and Capacity Act (StromVKG), offered 4,500 rMW and drew 41 bids totaling about 11,958 rMW. Seven bids were excluded, for example for missing mandatory information or proof. The agency awarded 11 bids and went above the volume because the bid that first crossed 4,500 rMW still received a contract. The weighted average price compares with a maximum of €244,000 per rMW per year, according to the agency's results page, which lists awarded bid values from €129,551 to €189,970.

Reuters put the total at around €12 billion ($13.4 billion), paid over 15 years, and named LEAG, owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group, and RWE as the winners. Voltgrid's arithmetic on the agency's figures (5,160 rMW times €155,296) gives about €801 million a year, which is consistent with that total.

Who Won, and Where

The agency's award list names RWE Generation SE for three awards, Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG (LEAG) for six, Gaskraftwerk Leipheim 20 GmbH for one and Stadtwerke Karlsruhe GmbH for one. By state, the regulator reports North Rhine-Westphalia at about 2,118 rMW (3 awards), Brandenburg 1,819 rMW (4), Saxony 910 rMW (2), Bavaria 269 rMW (1) and Baden-Wuerttemberg 45 rMW (1). Reuters counts LEAG and its subsidiaries at around 3 GW and RWE at 2.12 GW. Uniper won no capacity and said it would analyze the results.

RWE said in its release that its projects are hydrogen-compatible gas plants at Voerde (about 730 rMW), Weisweiler (about 700 rMW) and Werne (about 700 rMW). It said construction of the first should begin in a few weeks and that it has secured manufacturing capacity for key components.

Unit note: the StromVKG counts only 85 percent of a gas plant's installed capacity in the tender, RWE said, so rMW is lower than nameplate megawatts.

Who Pays and Why It Matters

Under the scheme, plants are subsidized to be available when wind and solar output is low, and Reuters reports the costs will be added to consumer bills through an extra levy. Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said the plants will supply power from 2031 at the latest. Neither the agency nor Reuters, in the reports read for this story, gives the levy per kilowatt-hour.

Agency president Klaus Mueller said competition between power plants and storage produced comparatively low award values. For large power users, including data-center developers, the practical point is timing: Reiche's date is 2031 at the latest. Neither source links the awards to data-center demand. Turbine supply is a separate constraint, as Voltgrid reported when Mitsubishi Power said new large gas turbine orders face delivery around 2031, a statement about one maker's queue.

Storage is growing outside this scheme: Germany added about 8.2 GWh of batteries in the first nine months of 2026, according to BSW-Solar data reported by Voltgrid.

What Happens Next

The tender is the first of several. Reuters reports that Germany plans 11-12 GW in total at a cost of up to €35.2 billion, with further rounds in December and in 2027. The agency will announce the second bid date on 10 November 2026. Awards formally count as announced one week after publication, on 10 November, and winners must post realization security within 20 working days of that announcement, the agency said.