Germany risks missing its 2030 offshore wind target, industry warns

Germany’s offshore wind energy targets are at risk amid lagging construction rates and grid connection delays, prompting industry calls for additional government support.

By 2030, the German government wants to have 30 GW of offshore wind turbines installed in its narrow slices of the North and Baltic Seas, up from 8.5 GW today.

But despite the tight timeline, few wind turbines are being commissioned and the industry is now ringing the alarm bell.

“In order to cope with this considerable imminent increase in capacity, the offshore wind value chain needs industrial policy measures,” a coalition of industry associations warned on Tuesday (29 January).

In 2023, a mere 27 offshore wind turbines with a combined capacity of just 257 MW started feeding electricity into the grid. Another 74 foundations – a key step in the process – were built. But it is still far from the 3.1 GW average the sector needs until 2030.

The alliance consisting of machine manufacturers VDMA, the offshore wind industry BWO and others called for “financing instruments and a regulatory framework that enables the necessary investments”.

26 countries sign 'European Wind Charter' to shield EU industry

All EU countries except Hungary have signed a joint declaration to protect Europe’s wind industry from “unfair trade practices” coming from Chinese manufacturers.

Like in the onshore wind industry, that means blocking Chinese players from entering the market.

In December, the German government signed up to the “European Wind Charter,” an industry initiative that calls on EU countries to adjust wind power auctions in ways that favour mostly European producers and promise higher rents for developers.

That includes “pre-qualification criteria” where products must pass muster on cybersecurity, and adjusting auction pricing to inflation. “The tender design must therefore be changed immediately,” the alliance stressed.

Another trauma of the German offshore industry is making a comeback. In July 2023, a collection of oil majors paid the German government €13 billion for the privilege of being allowed to construct 7 GW of offshore turbines.

This has proved unpopular among the established German players. “Bid payments should therefore be capped,” the industry alliance insists, arguing that high bid payments like those of last year result in higher electricity prices.

Experts reject this reasoning. “Capping bid payments seems completely arbitrary to me,” explains Ingmar Schlecht, a research associate at the Swiss ZHAW. Rather, it is “politically necessary to ensure that the wind farms for which bids are submitted are actually built”.

Brussels launches scheme to aid beleaguered wind turbine makers

The European Commission has put forward a package of non-binding measures designed to aid the bloc’s beleaguered wind turbine makers, who are under pressure from cheaper competitors abroad.

Network connection issues

Slow turbine build-out and fears of China are not the only issues plaguing the German offshore sector.

On 26 January, the government agency in charge of mapping the country’s oceanic economic zone, sent notice to the grid regulator that connecting offshore wind parks to electricity lines on the shore would prove more difficult than expected.

According to the letter, seen by Euractiv, several areas slated to be auctioned off for development would see their grid connection delayed by up to two years – a whole 2 GW will be connected in late 2031 instead of mid-2029, with other delays being less immediately impactful.

Taggespiegel attributed the delay to a lack of suitable berths in the area to construct converter platforms – massive structures that collect the electricity from offshore wind turbines and send it to land via a single massive cable.

“Should this situation be confirmed or even worsen, it will call into question the legally agreed expansion goals and send a signal of uncertainty into the value chain,” said BWO Managing Director Stefan Thimm at the time.

€400bn needed for offshore grids by 2050, network operators say

Europe’s first-ever Offshore Network Development Plan, published on Tuesday (23 January), highlights the huge investment needed to connect offshore wind farms to final consumers, with an estimated 54,000 kilometres of transmission assets expected to be built in European waters by 2050 – almost 1.5 times the equator’s length.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald and Frédéric Simon]

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