German OW Capacity Climbs to 4.1GW; Further Momentum Hindered by Reduced Post-2020 Expansion

In 2016, 818MW of offshore wind capacity went online in Germany, bringing the total capacity of offshore wind turbines connected to the grid to 4,108MW. However, further momentum could be inhibited by the federal government which has limited expansion to 500MW a year after 2020, according to a new report.

The report, showing offshore wind statistics for 2016 and looking into future development, has been issued by the Working Group for Offshore Wind Energy (AGOW), the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation, VDMA Power Systems and the WAB Wind Energy Agency.

Last year, 156 new offshore wind turbines with an overall capacity of 818MW fed their power into the German grid for the first time, which brought the total number of turbines on grid by the end of 2016 to 947 and the total capacity to 4,108MW. The amount of power generated by offshore wind turbines was around 13TWh in 2016. This represents an increase of almost 57% compared to the 8.3TWh generated in 2015.

Another 21 turbines with a total capacity of 123 megawatts were fully erected in the previous year, and are currently being connected to the grid. Offshore expansion will continue with about 1,400MW in 2017 followed by a steady average of around 1,000MW per year until 2019.

This momentum will however be upset by the reduced expansion targets after 2020 that are part of the 2017 Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). These reduced expansion targets will also lead to a number of missed opportunities for the industry, the organisations behind the report said, adding that the reduction of the expansion volume and the rigid setting of annual volumes are a strain on value creation for the offshore wind industry in Germany.