The Federal Association of Wind Farm Operators Offshore eV (BWO) and the OFFSHORE WIND-ENERGIE foundation thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft scenario framework for the electricity grid development plan 2021-2035. As a representative of offshore wind energy in Germany, we are happy to make use of this opportunity.

The BWO prefaces the comment with the following remarks:

Overall, we welcome the significantly increased ambitions for the offshore wind sector. We particularly welcome the fact that all scenarios are based on 20 GW by 2030. This corresponds to the current state of research on the need for a future decarbonised energy system, as presented, for example, by AGORA Energiewende in summer 2017 (Big Picture 2030), included in the BDI study Klimapfade Deutschland from 2018 or outlined in the climate protection program of the Federal Government's Coal Commission from 2019. However, we also see significantly higher offshore potential, especially before 2030, which can be leveraged, for example, through systematically implemented sector coupling. The consideration of current developments, for example by integrating the drivers of sector coupling into the scenarios, are important new approaches here.
We assure that higher offshore goals reflect the motivation and actual capabilities of the offshore wind industry. In order to ensure planning security in the industry, a legal anchoring of the goals and their achievability should be ensured as soon as possible.
In the following, the statement is intended to deal in particular with the questions in the BNetzA's accompanying document that relate to renewable energy sources and sector coupling.

The full statement can be found in the attachment.