German government’s goal of 6.5GW of grid-connected offshore wind power by 2020 could be surpassed as the industry could have 7.7GW connected to the grid by that time, according to a report from national industry organisations.
In the first half of this year, 108 offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 626MW were connected to to the grid, bringing the total connected capacity to 4,749MW by 30 June 2017. For the full year 2017, the industry expects that 900MW will be installed, according to a report issued by AGOW (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Offshore-Windenergie), Stiftung OFFSHORE-WINDENERGIE, VDMA Power Systems, BWE (Bundesverband WindEnergie) and WAB. The report also shows that there was also 295,8MW of offshore wind capacity installed and waiting to join the network at the end of the first half of this year.
The Federal Government’s objective is to implement 6.5GW of offshore wind power by 2020. By the end of 2016, the maximum assignable grid connection capacity for projects that can be implemented by 2020 amounted to 7.7GW.
At the end of June 2017, in addition to the approximately 4.7GW on the grid and 0.3GW installed, 0.7GW of offshore wind was under construction. Final investment decisions have already been made for about 1.6GW, and grid connection has been awarded for some 0.3GW.
Between 2021 and 2025, further 3.1GW will be connected to the grid, of which 1.5GW received contracts in the first round of tenders and the remaining 1.6GW will be tendered in 2018.
The second round of tendering for offshore wind energy will take place in early April 2018. There will be a total of 1,610MW of connection capacity, of which 500MW will be assigned for the Baltic Sea. These projects will be put into operation between 2021 and 2025.