With offshore wind farms DanTysk, Nordsee Ost, Borkum and Global Tech I alone, more than 2,000 MW of German offshore wind energy has been installed in the North and Baltic Seas.
End of this year will see the installed capacity rise to more than 3,000 MW. This corresponds to the capacity of more than two large nuclear power plants and offshore wind energy can thus supply more than 3.5 million households with electricity, said German Offshore Wind Energy Working Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Offshore-Windenergie e.V; AGOW).
This development underlines the importance of stable political conditions. After three years of uncertainty, following the amendment of the Renewable Energies Act (EEG) in the summer of 2014, the industry has shown that it is willing and able to establish the offshore wind energy in Germany as a pillar of its energy transition. This is reflected in investment decisions for additional offshore wind farms with a total capacity of more than one gigawatt.
Continuing this positive development will significantly contribute to implementation of the energy transition and it is a prerequisite to reduce costs.
Uwe Knickrehm, Managing Director of the Working Group , said: “All companies are working to establish a valuable pillar of the future energy mix, based on the experience gained so far in Germany and internationally and through joint initiatives providing cost-effective offshore power.” For this, a reliable political framework needs to be set up, which would allow a change in promoting renewable energy on invitations to tender along with strengthening the competition for a continuous expansion of offshore wind energy.
Only with a steady expansion of offshore wind energy, the energy and climate policy goals of German government can be achieved. Because with some 4,500 full-load hours and almost constant availability, electricity from offshore wind turbines makes an important contribution to grid stability, eliminates the cost of storage and compensation of energy and is therefore an important pillar of energy policy in Germany and Europe.
Members of the AGOW are:
DONG Energy Wind Power Germany GmbH; EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, E.ON Climate & Renewables GmbH; EWE Erneuerbare Energien GmbH; Global Tech Offshore Wind GmbH; Iberdrola Renovables Deutschland GmbH; Northland Power Inc.; Ocean Breeze Energy GmbH & Co. KG; RWE Innogy GmbH; SWM Stadtwerke München GmbH; Trianel Windkraft Borkum GmbH & Co. GmbH; Vattenfall Europe Windkraft GmbH; WindMW GmbH; wpd offshore GmbH.
Image: EnBW