Position paper EEG

As part of an online press conference this morning, Stefan Thimm, Managing Director of the Federal Association of Wind Farm Operators Offshore eV (BWO), presented the "BWO recommendations for action for the legal framework for wind energy at sea". The position paper was sent to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in the morning and aims to make the energy transition and the further expansion of offshore wind energy economically efficient.

“Without the appropriate legal framework, it will not be possible to reliably implement the goals sought by the federal government. It has long since ceased to be just a matter of adjusting the expansion targets, but also of structuring the financing framework for offshore wind projects in such a way that investment uncertainties and potential for cost savings can be eliminated in the long term, ”says Thimm. In addition, less obvious points have also been included in the position paper in order to encourage the most sustainable revision of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).

In addition to the statutory anchoring of the 20GW expansion target for the year 2030 provided for in the federal government's climate protection program, the BWO suggests, among other things, that we look beyond 2030. “2030 is the day after tomorrow. 10 years is not a long time in energy investment cycles. Such expansion projects require preparatory work, careful planning and long-term investment security. It is therefore important that we deal with the goals for 2035 and 2040 today, ”said Thimm. The course for the further development of the refinancing framework must be set today. Here, the existing EEG system should be further developed as quickly as possible and converted to so-called differential contracts. "In this way, the electricity production costs could be reduced by around 30 percent," explains Thimm. This is fair for consumers and ensures the competitiveness of German electricity prices in international competition.

Building an economy for green hydrogen is one of the key future tasks. Here, framework conditions must finally be defined that provide sufficient economic incentives to trigger technologically necessary developments. Thimm: “In the first step, at least one area should be defined as“ other energy generation area ”in the update of the area development plan in order to support appropriate test fields for other energy generation systems such as hydrogen solutions and their technology development in good time.

In addition to these central points, the BWO's recommendations for action contain further measures to create legal and investment security and to leverage potential for cost reduction.