- Five new offshore wind farms with a capacity of 1,944 MW are under construction in the first half of the year 2018
- Rapid implementation of additional tenders with at least 1.5 GW offshore wind capacity is required
- Expansion of volume to at least 20 GW by 2030 urgently needed to achieve government goals
- Advancing grid expansion, better use of existing grid and accelerating sector coupling and electrification
Berlin, 19 July 2018 -The German government has set the goal of covering 65 percent of the country’s power generation from renewable energies by 2030. From an offshore wind industry perspective, the German government is doing too little to achieve this goal. No concrete steps have been taken since the formation of government in March 2018. As stipulated in the coalition agreement, additional tenders for offshore wind energy and an increase in the offshore expansion paths are needed as soon as possible, alongside a rapid increase of the expansion paths for all renewables. The 65 percent target must be credibly supported by a quantity structure for the expansion. “The standstill in energy policy of the recent months must be stopped. We call on the Federal Government to decide on the special contribution for offshore wind energy immediately after the summer break. Otherwise, the self-defined climate targets cannot be achieved,” explained the industry representatives. “The industry also agrees with the transmission system operators on this point.”
The offshore industry is performing
The expansion of offshore wind energy is currently proceeding according to plan until 2020. At the end of the first half of the year 2018, a total of 1,169 turbines with an output capacity of 5,387 MW are feeding into the grid. Five projects with an output capacity of 1,944 MW are under construction. Of these, offshore wind turbines with an output of up to 1,000 MW are expected to be connected to the grid by the end of the year.
The share of offshore wind energy in total power generation increased from 2.7 to 2.9 percent (9.4 billion kWh – BDEW figures). The share of all renewable energies in power generation was ahead of lignite and hard coal for the first time in the first half year of 2018.
Increased expansion targets and additional tenders are indispensable to achieve the climate targets
From the industry’s perspective, the German government must act now if it takes the 65 percent target seriously. This is also in line with recent decisions at European level that renewable energies should account for 32 percent of the EU’s total energy consumption by 2030. To this end, the expansion targets must be raised across all renewable technologies. An expansion of at least 20 GW is required for offshore wind energy in Germany by 2030. At least 30 GW of offshore capacity must be installed by 2035. The existing expansion target of 15 GW by 2030 does not meet the Federal Government’s new targets.
