German transmission system operator Amprion is unable to meet an adjusted delivery schedule for two offshore wind grid connections in the German North Sea.
The TSO said the 2GW BalWin1 and 2GW BalWin2 will be online in 2030 and 2031, respectively.
The country’s recently-updated grid plan called for the connections to be available in 2029 and 2030.
Amprion pointed out that its delivery plan is still quicker than the 2031-33 timeline that was established in an earlier draft of the grid strategy, which has been since revised.
“We were able to secure capacities for the key construction trades on the market at an early stage. Despite intensive efforts, however, the strong acceleration of two or three years cannot be achieved due to the tight market,” said managing director Carsten Lehmköster.
“With the now adjusted schedule, we are continuing to contribute to accelerating the expansion targets. This is a major undertaking that we are undertaking together with our partners.”
The company blamed “tight market conditions” for the hold up.
“It is becoming clear that the scope for manoeuvre for our contractual partners is becoming increasingly limited,” said Lehmköster
“We urgently need to build up additional capacity on the market in order to achieve the ambitious goals.”