German Federal Cabinet Sends 2016 Renewable Energy Sources Act to Parliament

Germany’s Federal Cabinet has completed the amended 2016 Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG 2016) which will now be sent to the Parliament (Bundestag and Bundesrat).

The amended EEG 2016 includes a draft bill for the development and promotion of offshore wind energy –WindSeeG, which proposes two offshore wind tenders with a total capacity of 2.92GW to be held in 2017.

The 2.92 GW of new offshore wind capacity would be delivered between 2020 and 2024, and is some 500MW more compared to what was proposed for the same period in earlier drafts.

Both tenders are for the projects that already have a license and have reached a certain level of development. The calls for bids would be issued on 1 March and on 1 December 2017.

WindSeeG plans for 7.7GW of offshore wind capacity to be installed in German waters by 2020, a 1.2GW increase compared to the previously projected 6.5GW of the installed capacity for the same period.

However, as the 15GW target to be reached by 2030 has remained unchanged, Germany has reduced annual offshore wind installed capacity from 2020 onward from 800MW to 730MW.

When it comes to the tendering procedure, the EEG 2016 proposes that the level of funding would no longer be fixed by the state, but rather be determined on the market by way of competitive auctions.

Offshore WIND Staff