Expansion goals realization

The Federal Government's decision to increase the expansion target for offshore wind energy to 20 gigawatts must be followed by action - given the talks that have begun between the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the German coastal states, transmission network operators and authorities, the Federal Association of Offshore Wind Farm Operators is urging. The association, which represents all operators of offshore wind farms in German waters, considers the following points to be necessary for the realization of the increased expansion target:

• The belated adjustment of the very ambitious expansion target requires effective safeguards. The planning of the expansion up to the year 2030 must therefore be designed in such a way that individual problems that cannot be ruled out from the outset cannot jeopardize the achievement of objectives.
• We therefore propose the following measures as security mechanisms:
  • A quantity buffer, i.e. the extensive use of existing expansion options. To this end, the possibilities in the territorial sea of ​​the Baltic Sea in particular must be used and open regulatory issues must be resolved quickly.
  • A time buffer: The early tendering of any empty capacities on converters, as well as the timely clarification of the possibilities in the Baltic Sea.
  • Continuous monitoring: Monitoring of the individual measures in order to be able to make timely adjustments if necessary. This is particularly true because the achievement of the target of 20 GW provides for a number of innovations, both in connection with the grid connection of the OWFs, in the expansion of the grid and the introduction of larger converter platforms.
• At the same time, the limits of a plan that currently thinks in five-year periods become clear. Therefore, at the beginning of the implementation of the 20 GW target - from the end - the target for the year 2050 and the stages leading to it should be considered. This also includes the consideration of the possibility, even the necessity, of creating the basis for an economical production of "green hydrogen" by offshore wind power in good time.
• Also urgently required in the latter context: the early involvement of all stakeholders in a timely, comprehensive consultation. Namely between the government, regulatory authorities, transmission system operators and the wind farm operators who are directly economically affected. This applies to the period up to 2030 and beyond until 2050.