Germany’s 2030 OW Target Increase on the Horizon

The German government is set to instruct the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) to assess the ways of increasing the country’s 2030 offshore wind capacity goal from 15GW to 20GW. 

Illustration; Source: David Dixon under the licence CC BY-SA 2.0

The Association of German wind farm operators (BWO) has welcomed the plans by stating that the target increase has been the industry’s and its core requirement for a long time.

According to the association, it is high time for the target to be established and it must not be postponed, while a clear political and a legal basis are still required.

BWO also said that offshore wind companies, as well as the association itself, are willing to consult and make proposals on implementing the 20GW target anytime

To remind, a group of economic and energy ministers, senators of five northern German states, representatives of the coastal cities and the industry signed the Cuxhaven Appeal 2.0 last year calling for an expansion goal of at least 20GW of offshore wind in the North and Baltic Seas by 2030.

Recently, the local offshore wind industry issued a joint press release stating that the government is doing too little to achieve the 2030 goal, with no concrete steps taken since its formation in March.

The organizations said the existing goal of 15GW does not meet the target of covering 65% of the country’s power generation with renewables by 2030 and expansion targets must be raised across all renewable technologies, with at least 20GW for offshore wind.