German wind industry groups have urged policymakers to raise Germany’s 2030 offshore target to 20GW from 15GW currently and introduce a 30GW goal for 2035.
The groups – AGOW, BWE, Offshore Wind Foundation, VDMA Power Systems and WAB – called for an end to what they call an “energy policy standstill”.
They also called on the federal government to allow “at least” 1.5GW of additional capacity to be auctioned in 2019 and 2020 in the North and Baltic Seas.
The additional 1.5GW would be possible with existing grid capacity, they said.
Without the additional offshore wind volume, the government will not be able to meet its climate targets, the groups added. “We are united on this with the TSOs,” they said in a joint statement.
Policymakers should further remove administrative barriers for sector coupling, the groups said. Operators of offshore wind farms should also be able to convert power to other forms of energy for storage and reconversion.
Projects due online before 2020 “are on track”, the group said. Five offshore wind projects with a combined capacity of 1944MW are under construction, 1GW of which is expected to be grid-connected before the end of the year.
According to the groups, some 1169 turbines with a 5387MW capacity were online by the end of the second quarter of 2018.
Image: reNEWS
Berlin pressured on offshore goals
By EBS