In the first half of 2020, 32 offshore wind turbines (OWT) in the German Exclusive Economic Zone an installed capacity of 219MW fed into the grid for the first time. Of these 32 turbines, 15, with a total installed capacity of 101MW, were erected in the first half of 2020 whilst the remaining turbines had been set up the previous year. No foundations were installed in the first half of 2020. Capacity upgrades totalling 25MW were carried out on 71 turbines over the course of the first half of the year.
As of June 30, 2020, 1,501 OWT with a cumulative installed capacity of 7,760 MW were in operation. As expected, the number of new installations has fallen significantly compared to previous years. The cumulative installed capacity has increased by only 3% since the end of 2019.
In the first half of 2020, turbines from two projects in Germany were commissioned. In the EnBW Albatros OWP, all plants went into operation. In the Trianel Windpark Borkum II project commissioning work1, that had started the previous year, was completed. The turbines in the EnBW Hohe See project were upgraded. The pilot project at the Deutsche Bucht OWP was discontinued over the course of the first six months due to technical difficulties. As of June 30, 2020, 27 projects in the North Sea and Baltic Sea are in operation. The expansion phase of the projects implemented prior to the introduction of tenders, is now complete.
The next OWP to be implemented in Germany will be the projects awarded in the transitional tenders of 2017 and 2018. Seven projects are to be commissioned by 2025.
An investment decision has already been made for the Kaskasi OWP, which is scheduled to go online in 2022, including the associated pilot plants. The Baltic Sea projects Arcadis Ost 1 and Wikinger Süd are to be realised in 2023, with the final investment decision still to be made. The completion of the OWP Baltic Eagle is expected to follow in 2024. Furthermore, the North Sea project Gode Wind 3 (including the Gode Wind 3 and Gode Wind 4 awards) is scheduled for grid connection in 2024. The completion of Borkum Riffgrund 3 (including the awards for Borkum Riffgrund West 1, Borkum Riffgrund West 2 and OWP West) and EnBW He Dreiht is expected in 2025.
In the draft law to amend the Offshore Wind Energy Act (German: Windenergie-auf-See-Gesetz or WindSeeG) adopted by the Federal Cabinet on June 3, 2020, new targets for the further expansion of offshore wind energy up to 2040 were defined. Instead of the offshore target of 15 GW as previously defined in the EEG, a new target of 20 GW is to be achieved by 2030. By 2040, 40 GW offshore capacity is planned.
To ensure that the new target of 20 GW by 2030 is achieved, a total capacity of 9.2 GW must be tendered, awarded and realised in tender rounds from 2021 onwards. Additionally, a further 20 GW would then be required to achieve the 40 GW target by 2040. Thus, a total of 29.2 GW still has to be added by 2040.
