French energy major TotalEnergies has been awarded the N-9.4 offshore concession in the German North Sea by the country’s Federal Network Agency. Located in the North Sea, approximately 150 km northwest of the German island of Heligoland, the N-9.4 concession covers an area of around 141 sq km and will enable the development of a 1GW offshore wind farm. The concession is granted for a period of 25 years, extendable to 35 years. The concession is located near the N-9.1 and N-9.2 sites, jointly owned by RWE and TotalEnergies. The French firm intends to prioritise the development of this cluster and leverage synergies to optimise construction and operating costs for the benefit of its customers. The company will pay €18m ($20.7m) to the German federal government in 2026, which will be allocated to marine conservation and the promotion of environmentally friendly fishing practices. An annual contribution of €8.1m ($9.3m) will be paid for 20 years to the electricity transmission system operator responsible for connecting the project, starting from the commissioning of the site. TotalEnergies’ portfolio in offshore wind has a total capacity of 23GW, with most farms bottom-fixed. These projects are in the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, France, the US, the Netherlands, and Germany. The downside of the auction round was that it included negative bidding, which makes offshore wind more expensive. Negative bidding also reduces the number of interested offshore wind developers, with only two bidders willing to participate in this round. “Negative bidding creates additional costs which must be passed on to consumers and the wind energy supply chain. It may be a short-term gain for finance ministries. But it’s a long-term cost for society”, said Giles Dickson, WindEurope CEO. The second German offshore auction round will take place in August. It will auction two sites with a total capacity of 2.5GW. These sites will be centrally predeveloped. The auction will use a combination of negative bidding and non-price criteria. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1_95_0_1_2'); }); TagsFrance Germany Offshore Wind