Time to unshackle German power offshore wind expansion – association

Restricting offshore expansion does not make sense – association

Offshore growth rate has slowed

Offshore key to meet 2030 climate targets

LONDON (ICIS)–Limiting offshore wind expansion “no longer makes sense”, a spokesman from wind energy business group Stiftung Offshore-Windenergie told ICIS.

A previous cap on offshore expansion to avoid grid issues is no longer required both from an economic and energy point of view, he said.

A reduction in planning capacity of offshore projects to 15GW was made under the EEG 2014 act and the EEG 2017 act. They were justified by the government citing problems with grid expansion and generation costs.

However, with planned grid upgrade in the pipeline due for completion in 2025 and legislative measures taken this year to speed up grid expansion, there is no longer a need to be as tentative around offshore expansion, the spokesman said.

“Other countries such as the Netherlands, UK and Denmark are also making stronger progress in offshore expansion,” he added.

He called for an increase to 20GW which would be necessary to meet climate targets such as 65% renewable generation by 2030.

OFFSHORE GROWTH SLOWING

Offshore wind will play an important role in meeting German climate targets. Turbines generate more power than onshore projects due to high wind yield at sea.

There is evidence that the offshore wind rate of growth is slowing, though relatively speaking the fastest-growing technology in Germany in percentage terms.

New projects planned such as Germany’s largest offshore farm due to obtain a grid connection in September , will keep the rate high.

However, experts doubt that the rate of increase is fast enough.

More than 6.5GW offshore capacity is installed in the country and the rate of growth in recent years has been around 1GW per year.

However, ICIS analysts forecast this rate to slow to below 1GW over the next few years.

By Roy Manuell