TenneT has called for reliable political and economic framework conditions for the “urgently needed” offshore grid expansion.
In a visit to a shipyard in Cadiz, in Spain Tim Meyerjürgens, COO of TenneT, argued for the need for reliable framework conditions for offshore wind expansion.
He said: “As Europe’s green power plant, the North Sea must be developed quickly and efficiently and connected to the onshore power grids.
“This is the only way to make the European goal of an independent supply of renewable energy a reality.
“This requires a high level of political and economic reliability – for TenneT and for our partners. In concrete terms, this means shorter approval procedures, sufficient market capacities and stable supply chains, as well as a comprehensive qualification offensive against the impending shortage of skilled workers in the entire offshore sector.
“Only if all these factors work together will we be able to achieve the ambitious expansion targets.”
During the visit TenneT’s team was able to see the construction progress of the converter platform for the BorWin5 offshore grid connection system planned for the German North Sea.
On the visit, Dieter Janecek, Federal Government Coordinator for the Maritime Economy and Tourism, also added: “The accelerated expansion of offshore wind energy is a top political priority for us.
“The Federal Government will use all possibilities to accelerate the expansion. In addition to faster approval procedures, this includes, among other things, support for the development of production capacities for converter platforms in Germany.
“The production of this converter platform shows that the energy transition is good for the German and European economy as a whole.
“In Spain and Germany, thousands of well-paid industrial jobs have already been created in the offshore wind industry – and many more will follow.
“The German government is single-mindedly pushing ahead with the energy transition step by step, thus securing cost-effective renewable energies for Germany.
“The exchange with the Spanish shipyard and the German companies is important in order to work together at European level to ensure that the rapid ramp-up of the offshore wind industry can succeed.”