On the occasion of the start of discussions on the Budget Financing Act, the BWO appeals to MPs to accelerate the transformation of the economic system.

BWO managing director Stefan Thimm: “In order for the transformation component to make a sustainable contribution to transforming the economy, the funds from the bid component must be used to support the offshore expansion. In this way, the realization of the expansion goals and the achievement of the energy transition goals can be secured. The BWO has presented proposals for this in recent months. Under no circumstances may the transformation component be used to subsidize fossil fuels. That would be absurd.”

It is currently planned to transfer funds from the auction of offshore wind farms to the federal budget without any intended purpose. The expansion of offshore wind farms now urgently needs to be secured in terms of industrial policy, for example by making funds available to finance investments in production capacities for offshore systems or to build suitable port infrastructure.

“Therefore, consideration should be given to creating a separate budget title for these purposes soon. The new budget funds should then be used to ensure the implementation of the legal expansion targets for offshore wind energy. At the same time, we are strengthening value creation and employment in Germany and Europe,” says Thimm.

Hintergrund:

The federal government has presented the budget financing law. It stipulates that 5,875% of the revenue from offshore tenders last year should flow into the federal budget as a transformation component. However, it is currently not intended that the funds will actually be available for specific transformation measures or for achieving the expansion goals in the offshore sector. A total of €13,4 billion was raised through tenders last year.