German Windenergy Association

Future trends: Offshore

Future expectations

Projections for offshore wind energy in Germany now predict a capacity of about 10.000 MW by 2020. Mainly for nature conservation reasons, most German offshore parks will be erected up to 20-60 km away from the coastline and in 20-40 meters deep waters. So far, experience of building such wind farms is very limited, hence higher risk attached make financing from banks more complicated.
 
 

Offshore take-off in 2009 – current legal conditions and political support

The breakthrough for offshore wind has been achieved thanks to the amended German Renewable Energy Sources Act, which has finally introduced tariffs for offshore wind energy that make projects financially viable.

The initial remuneration rate is 13 euro cents per kilowatt hour. If the installation of a farm is commissioned before 1st January 2016, a so-called ‘sprinter bonus’ of 2 ct per kilowatt hour will be paid in addition to the initial remuneration. This means that the remuneration for offshore wind power is currently 15 ct per kilowatt hour for the first twelve years.

The real duration of the initial remuneration also depends on the location of the project. Based on the water depth and the distance from the coast, the initial remuneration is prolonged after the first twelve years according to a defined formula. After this, the basic remuneration of 3.5 euro cents per kilowatt hour applies. A degression of five percent has been specified for all projects that go online after 2015. The new German Renewable Energy Sources Act has been in force since 1 January 2009.

Cabling and the connection of cables on land

Although it has been legally stipulated since 2007 that grid operators have to bear the costs of connection of the wind farm at sea, only two connections have been completed so far. This is result both of the long durations necessary for planning and of difficulties in coordination between the installation of the connection and commissioning of the wind farm.

In addition, capacity in Germany is insufficient to provide the transmission of offshore wind power to the major consumption centers in Germany. This has now been dealt with a new law, the Power Line Expansion Law. It is now easier to use underground cables, and this is intended to speed up installation projects. In addition, the increased costs can be passed on on a national level.

Today’s target and future implementation.

The European Union’s goals for renewable energy sources are quite well known: the share of renewable energy sources in Europe must be trebled by 2020.

For Germany, there is calculated that wind energy can achieve a 25 percent share of German electricity consumption. 55,000 megawatts would have to be in place to achieve this. In the coming days, we will celebrate the milestone of 25,000 MW of installed wind capacity in Germany. This means that we will have to achieve an increase of 30,000 megawatts in installed wind energy capacity. This is an ambitious target. This would mean that every fourth kilowatt hour will come from wind power in 11 years time in Germany.

According to BWE calculations wind offshore can provide 6% and wind onshore 19% of Germany’s electricity consumption. The majority will come from onshore wind energy in Germany. Nonetheless, there will also be a lot to do in the offshore area. A 6 percent share of the German electricity supply represents an installed capacity of 10,000 megawatts of offshore wind power, and that in the next 11 years.

It becomes evident just how ambitious this target is. Current targets for the development of wind power at sea in Germany are based on the experiences we have made in the last times.

For 2009: 100 MW
By 2012: 1,500 MW
By 2015: 3,000 MW
By 2020: 10,000 MW.

By 2030 the German Government communicated a target of 20,000 – 25,000 MW installed offshore capacity. With all the shown challenges we have a good communication with the German Government about the legal framework and conditions. Therefore are these good and feasible targets for the German offshore wind industry

However, continued research is still necessary. At the end of August, a third research platform was constructed in the North Sea, which will gather data regarding the impact on fauna and flora and regarding technical and environmental conditions. This Fino 3 platform will add to current knowledge and thus provide further impetus to the development of offshore wind power in Germany.