Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency BSH has halted licensing procedures for offshore wind projects until further notice.
The decision covers projects that are over 100 kilometres offshore and not necessary to meet the revised 2030 renewable energy targets of 15GW, the agency reported.
The reason for this move is the unavailability of grid connections as the federal network agency BNetzA did not plan grid links for these projects at the moment.
As expected, the decision was welcomed with anger by the offshore wind industry.
Ronny Meyer , head of industry group Offshore Wind Industry Alliance, said: “Some wind farm developers have put their trust in Germany’s previous expansion goals and invested millions in their farshore projects. This economic value must be preserved.”
“If the federal government wants the Energiewende (energy transition), then its dependent agencies need to take the means in hand that make a steady build-up of offshore wind energy possible,” added Jörg Kuhbier, chairman of the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation.
“The offshore wind industry needs investment and planning security, and no further ‘stop-and-go’ mechanism,” Kuhbier concluded.
The Germany currently has 2.7 GW of installed offshore wind capacity and expects to reach 3 GW by the end of this year. This represents a total investment of over 10 billion euros.