Q3: European Solar PPA Prices Drop 2.4%, Wind Market Resurges, Says Report

The European Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) prices across Europe declined for a second consecutive quarter on LevelTen Energy's PPA Price Index. A latest “Level Ten European PPA Price Index, Q3 2025,” saw a drop in solar prices by 2.4% which isn’t unique perhaps due to laggard demand for renewable capacity behind available supply in many markets.

The latest trend is a cumulative result of political conditions, regulatory changes, and the rise in hybrid projects. Other factors, such as the increase in solar price cannibalisation in several countries, and growing low, and even led to negative wholesale prices. They are also contributing towards depressing revenue expectations for standalone solar assets in many markets, including Germany and Spain.

Impact on Q3 Price Index

Countries like Irish solar appeared on the report Q3 Price Index for the third time in six quarters, offering PPAs that are at the top of the pricing spectrum. It also highlighted that a phenomenal rate of data-centre buildout in the country may surface buyers for this PV capacity. 

On the contrary, France’s quarterly solar PPA pricing movements were fairly minimal, but declined nonetheless. With policy uncertainty high, more French energy developers and buyers appear to be exploring the PPA market for their offtake and procurement needs. 

Wind Prices show stability

After a wave of policy liberalisation from many European governments in recent years, wind development may be picking up steam across the continent. Europe's wind sector is showing signs of regaining momentum after a difficult several years of pandemic-era challenges plus permitting, regulatory, and community-opposition headaches. The LevelTen price index showed that Q3 wind PPA prices on LevelTen's Market-Averaged Continental Index held steady quarter over quarter, declining by a negligible 0.1%. 

In Q3, seven distinct wind markets hosted an adequate volume and diversity of PPA offers to post a P25 price — the most markets on our Wind Index in over a year. Excitingly, Portuguese wind joined our Index for the first time. 

Q4's PPA Price Index may help reveal whether Q3's wind market resurgence is an encouraging sign of things to come, or a mere blip on the radar. Wind prices have shown greater resilience than those for solar, with the technology being less vulnerable to the price-cannibalisation challenges that standalone solar facilities have been increasingly struggling with. 

Regulatory Uncertainty Affects Energy Plans

Europe, however, is reeling from potent regulatory uncertainty that persists in France after a no-confidence vote in the country's National Assembly forced former Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to resign in September. 

The research finds this to be the second time in less than one year that a no-confidence vote forced out a French government, after a similar circumstance befell Prime Minister Michel Barnier in December 2024.

Moreover, as the country grapples with an ongoing budgetary crisis, uncertainty around the future of government support for renewables remains high — an environment that is making the PPA space a comparatively safer bet for French energy players.

On the contrary, in the United Kingdom (UK), the resolution of the long-running REMA process — which is a review of the country's electricity market design — has at last provided the certainty developers and investors have yearned for. The study noted that in the final REMA decision opted to retain a single national price for electricity, rather than moving to a zonal pricing system that had been under consideration.

For buyers, options abound

Supply is ample for Europe's PPA buyers, and as more markets in Europe's east move towards AIB membership — the standards body that oversees Guarantees of Origin (GO) issuance — corporate offtake opportunities are poised to expand even further.

RFP processes run by LevelTen have also seen a surge in Hybrid PPA offers that pair wind or solar with BESS. While these offers vary in shape and structure, convergence in the hybrid space is gradually occurring as buyers explore the contracting structures and project types that meet their needs. 

Conclusion

In general, the study showed that the energy demand is more tepid across Europe than expected, particularly on the industrial front. But one area where demand certainly is surging continues to be the data-centre space, with markets like Finland, Spain, and Ireland seeing significant investments. 

The intersection of the energy transition and the AI boom creates a dynamic interplay where no market conditions can be expected to last forever. Buyers are encouraged to leverage the current moment of market stability to achieve their energy and environmental goals.