German Cabinet Approves Offshore Wind Act Amendment, Industry Calls for Further Changes

The German Federal Cabinet has approved a draft amendment to the Offshore Wind Act (WindSeeG), sending the legislation to the Bundestag for parliamentary consideration ahead of the planned entry into force of the revised legislation on 1 January 2027.

The German Offshore Wind Energy Foundation (Stiftung OFFSHORE-WINDENERGIE) welcomed the government’s decision to examine an indexation mechanism for the planning and construction phase, but said further changes are needed to address investment risks and the economic viability of offshore wind projects.

The foundation said the proposed indexation mechanism should result in robust regulation during the parliamentary process, highlighting that appropriate indexation is an important element of an investment-ready auction framework.

However, the foundation criticised the proposed future auction design.

The draft provides for a two-stage model, initially using a dynamic bidding procedure without a price cap, with a contract for difference (CfD) auction available only as a subsequent option.

According to the foundation, this could still result in particularly attractive offshore wind sites carrying very high payment obligations and bids whose economic viability is not sufficiently robust over the long periods required to realise the projects.

The Foundation also said the draft “fails to solve the most pressing problem currently facing German offshore wind expansion”, which is the status of already awarded projects that are still awaiting final investment decisions (FIDs).

According to the organisation, projects with this status total 16 GW in capacity and further delays could result in a significant gap in offshore wind expansion, put pressure on the supply chain and jeopardise Germany’s statutory expansion targets.

The foundation called for the WindSeeG amendment to include a one-off, clearly time-limited option for developers to return awarded sites, subject to appropriate economic consequences.

It said the mechanism should not provide developers with a risk-free exit from projects. Instead, the objective would be to release sites at risk of non-realisation at an early stage and re-tender them quickly under economically viable conditions, with developers returning a site excluded from bidding again for the same site.

“Now it is up to the German Bundestag to further develop the reform in such a way that it creates reliable investment conditions, secures the realisation of projects, and prevents a prolonged expansion gap with serious consequences for the supply chain”, said Andreas Mummert, Head of Policy at the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation.

The Foundation said it supports the government’s objective of bringing the amended WindSeeG into force on 1 January 2027, but that the timetable should not come at the expense of a thorough parliamentary review. It called for the remaining weaknesses in the draft to be addressed during the legislative process and for the framework for offshore wind expansion to be placed on stable, investment-ready foundations.

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