TenneT Welcomes German Ministers’ Proposal to Accelerate Offshore Grid Development

Two German ministers presented a proposal aimed at accelerating the development of wind farms off the German coast by introducing new liability arrangements and a long-term offshore grid development plan. 

“We welcome the proposal by Phillip Rösler, the German federal minister for economic affairs, and Peter Altmaier, the minister for the environment, to introduce new liability arrangements and a new system for offshore grid development,” said Lex Hartman, member of the Board of Management of TenneT TSO GmbH, in an initial response in Bayreuth today.

“The proposal by the two ministers represents a new direction in the development of offshore wind energy,” said Hartman enthusiastically. “It is now essential to implement the ministers’ proposal as soon as possible.” 

TenneT already issued a warning in November 2011 that the existing preconditions were out of step with the development of offshore wind energy, and presented its own package of measures to accelerate the process.

“TenneT wants to support the connection of offshore wind farms to the onshore grid. That is why we took action to change the preconditions for connection of offshore wind farms, to ensure that we could continue to realise the objectives of Germany’s energy transition. A long-term offshore grid plan, clear liability arrangements, and a solution for the financing of offshore connections are absolutely essential in this regard,” said Hartman.

Offshore wind energy plays a key role in the transition to a sustainable energy supply. The German government wants to construct offshore installations with a total capacity of 13 gigawatts and connect these to the grid by 2022, and TenneT wishes to contribute to realisation of this objective by ensuring that these wind farms are built and connected to the grid in time.

In the North Sea alone, offshore wind farms with a total capacity of 11 GW will be constructed. TenneT has already concluded contracts for the realisation of grid connections with a total capacity of 5.5 GW (i.e. half of the planned capacity to be constructed in the North Sea). The electricity transmission operator has invested approx. 6 billion euro in these projects, making it the largest investor in Germany’s energy transition.

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Offshore WIND staff, July 4, 2012; Image: TenneT