The German federal government, five coastal states and three transmission system operators (TSOs) have completed an agreement that raises the country’s offshore wind target to 20GW by 2030 instead of 15GW previously.
Finalisation of the deal between the government, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein and TSOs 50Hertz, Amprion and TenneT, follows a meeting of energy ministers last week.
All parties said they are committed to working closely to realise the offshore wind expansion in the North and Baltic Seas.
The Federal Office for Shipping and Hydrography (BSH) will continue to update area development plans by the end of the year to identify the sites required for 20GW.
Connections for projects have already been confirmed by the federal network agency BNetzA in its 2019 network development plan.
The coastal states are tasked with completing the approval process in a timely manner allowing the TSOs to put the lines into operation in good time, the federal government said.
The agreement implements a requirement from the 2030 climate protection programme agreed in October 2019 to conclude a binding agreement with the affected coastal states and TSOs as a prerequisite for raising the offshore target to 20GW.
Timelines will checked regularly to identify any delays at an early stage and take effective measures, the government added.