Auctions for renewable energy support - Taming the beast of competitive bidding

Auctions for Renewable Energy Support - AURES - is a coordination and support action financed by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 program to improve the implementation of renewable energy policies in EU Member States. AURES was conceived by the need of implementing market-based instruments including competitive bidding processes (i.e. auctions or tenders) to allocate support for renewable energy sources (RES) in the European electricity sector from 2015 onwards as stipulated in the EC State Aid Guidelines.

Many European countries have by now undertaken competitive auctions for different technologies with mixed experiences while others have recently started or are at the verge of starting the implementation process. Energy community countries may also soon introduce competition for support payments. Therefore, there exists the need for capacity building of policy makers and market participants to successfully design, implement and use auctions for RES support.

AURES ran from January 2015 to December 2017 and has generated new insights on the applicability of auctions for renewable support and on specific auction designs under different market conditions and policy goals in European countries. These insights are based on theoretical and empirical analysis (energy auctions in 12 European countries and 8 non-European countries), the use of state of the art simulation models and experiments, and through cooperation cases with some Member States providing tailor-made policy support in the implementation of auctions.

AURES contributed to a strong knowledge-sharing with workshops, webinars, bi- and multilateral meetings, an interactive website and dedicated auction tools (AURES cash flow model and AURES auction designer). This final report covers a discussion of major findings and insights in regards to auction designs that AURES has identified to be relevant in the context of renewable energy.