Germany’s federal government has failed to deliver its goal of expanding renewable energy “steadily and cost-effectively” leading to a “thread break” in the offshore wind sector that could impact small and medium-sized companies, according to German wind energy network WAB.
WAB said the ‘broken thread’ resulted from government’s planned stop for the expansion of offshore wind in the coming years which will empty the order books of domestic industry.
It added that Lower Saxony Minister for the Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection has called for the federal government to amend law quickly to set the 20GW offshore target for 2030 in stone.
A 40GW target for 2050 in the German North Sea also needs to be signed into law, the minister said in a WAB statement.
“Only then can the necessary infrastructure for the connection capacity be planned in a timely and cost-effective manner,” he added.
WAB said that offshore wind growth is an important component for industrial growth in Germany’s northern and coastal regions.
It added that while larger companies could switch attention to international markets, small and medium-sized companies find it more difficult to make the change.
WAB managing director Heike Winkler said: “For small and medium-sized companies, it is more difficult than for large companies to switch to international markets depending on the market situation.
“This thread break will displace many small and medium-sized companies in this country and cost numerous other jobs.
“In this way, the Federal Government is further reducing the diversity of actors that it once wanted to protect.”
The federal government has not even kept its promise from the coalition agreement in 2018 to announce an ‘offshore special contribution’ in the short term, although free grid connection capacity is available, WAB added.
Winkler said: “The on- and offshore wind energy sector on the coast and inland makes an important contribution economically and technologically to the success of the energy transition.
“It needs a reliable perspective and the long-awaited political tailwind in order to be able to realise its potential for sector coupling via ‘green’ hydrogen.
“20GW for wind at sea by 2030 without a long-term goal is therefore not sufficient.”