Germany Confirms Offshore Grid Development Plan by 2025

Authorities

German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has confirmed a plan for the offshore grid development by 2025 (Offshore-Netzentwicklungsplan 2025), which regulates the connections of wind farms in the North and Baltic Seas to the German transmission network.

Schematic overview: the North Sea (Source: BNA)

“Electricity generation from wind farms in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea is a central component of the energy transition. The 2025 offshore grid development plan forms a reliable basis for further development of offshore wind energy and a smooth transition towards competitive tendering of new projects,” said Jochen Homann, President of the Federal Network Agency .

The confirmed offshore network development plan comprises four network connections for offshore wind generation in the North Sea and three network connections in the Baltic Sea. These serve to develop spatially connected wind farms at sea (so-called clusters), which were defined by the Federal Offshore Offshore Plan of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency.

Schematic overwiew: the Baltic Sea (Source: BNA)
Schematic overwiew: the Baltic Sea (Source: BNA)

The offshore network development plan provides an order of individual connections as well as the date of commissioning and planned completion.

The plan also implements the requirements of the national offshore wind energy act for the expansion corridor for offshore wind power from 2021 to 2025 and allows for connections of the wind farm projects participating in the tenders from 2021 to 2025.