LEAG Wins Contracts for Gas Plants With 3,680 MW of Installed Capacity in Germany
Key Facts
LEAG won seven contracts in a German tender for gas-fired power plants, giving the company projects with installed capacity of 3,680 megawatts, or 2,998 megawatts on the tender’s discounted basis. The company announced the results on November 3, 2026, and Reuters said the round’s contracts are worth about 12 billion euros. The sites include Jänschwalde in Brandenburg, Boxberg in Saxony and Leipheim in Bavaria, extending the projects beyond eastern Germany. LEAG’s announcement described the projects as new gas plant blocks, with some relying on existing sites and infrastructure. The contracts put the company ahead of other winners by capacity, Reuters said.
Reuters said LEAG and its subsidiaries secured about 3 gigawatts of capacity, followed by RWE with 2.12 gigawatts. The figure of 2,998 megawatts on a discounted basis represents the capacity counted in the tender, while 3,680 megawatts refers to the installed capacity of the projects themselves. The distinction between the two measures explains the difference between the company’s announcement and the rounded figure in Reuters’ report. The agency reported that the regulator awarded 11 winning bids in the round. The winning bids had total capacity of about 5,160 megawatts on a discounted basis, according to the regulator’s announcement, which gave no total value in euros.
The plants are intended to provide backup electricity capacity when wind and solar power are insufficient to meet demand. LEAG said the projects would be built at previously developed energy sites and would be prepared for future use of hydrogen. The Jänschwalde and Boxberg projects are among those set to benefit from existing infrastructure, according to the company’s announcement. LEAG said the projects must be operational by the end of 2031 at the latest. The timetable links the contract awards to the creation of new capacity in the coming years, while retaining the option of using hydrogen in the future.
LEAG estimated its total investment in the plants at about 1.5 to 2 billion euros. It said the new capacity would be available especially when wind and solar output does not meet electricity demand. Reuters said the supported plants would remain ready to operate during periods of low supply from sources such as solar and wind. The agency added that the cost of support would ultimately be passed on to consumers’ bills through an additional charge. According to Reuters, the planned support for plant operators runs for 15 years, making its cost to consumers part of the program’s long-term design.
The average price at which capacity was awarded was 155,296 euros per megawatt, Reuters said. The average was below the maximum price of 244,000 euros per megawatt cited by the agency in describing the program. Reuters said this maximum price is paid over 15 years under a mechanism designed to encourage the addition of new capacity. In trading, RWE shares rose 1.4% by 09:42 GMT on November 3. This provides an indication of the share-price movement of one of the round’s winners, without specifying LEAG’s share performance; the company is unlisted, according to the information presented here.
The first round is part of a broader German plan to tender total capacity of between 11 and 12 gigawatts, at a cost of up to 35.2 billion euros, Reuters said. The agency noted that the government plans to hold the next round on November 10. The announced contracts therefore mark the start of a program whose target capacity exceeds the results of the current tender. The plan’s estimated overall cost remains linked to the tendering of the targeted capacity, while consumers’ bills will bear a plant-support charge, according to Reuters. The next round is scheduled after the results announcement on November 3, while LEAG’s projects must be operational by the end of 2031.