Good intentions, wrong tooling? A review of onshore wind energy auctions in Germany from 2017 to 2021

This article analyses the developments on the promises of the introduction of an auction scheme as a policy instrument for the onshore wind energy development in Germany. Based on an analysis of the effective remuneration levels resulting from site-dependent auction prices and an analysis of financial statements of German turbine manufacturers we conclude that political promises have not been met and question whether auctions are really the policy tooling of choice.