Offshore wind energy: The hurdles of an business | EUROtoday

Ten years in the past there was a well-established offshore wind energy business on the German coast. The firms had been capable of produce every little thing needed in Germany, from offshore building ships to very large converters, the substations for the wind farms at sea, in addition to wind generators and their foundations.

When the then federal authorities made up of the Union and SPD slowed down the growth of offshore wind energy – primarily to curb the rise in electrical energy costs – the business misplaced its footing. Many firms moved away and the development of recent vegetation fell to zero. The offshore wind energy business known as this example a “thread break” a number of years in the past.

This 12 months, the offshore financial system in Germany as soon as once more skilled a form of thread break, however this time the actors try to keep away from calling it that in order to not painting the troublesome state of affairs as even bleaker than it already is. “From now on, things can only go up if we work together,” stated Stefan Thimm, managing director of the Federal Association of Offshore Wind Farm Operators (BWO), on Monday throughout an internet “minister talk” with Lower Saxony’s power transition minister Christian Meyer (Greens) and Tobias Goldschmidt (Greens), power transition minister in Schleswig-Holstein.

In the primary half of the 12 months, not a single offshore wind turbine was linked to the facility grid within the German a part of the North and Baltic Seas, though new methods had been constructed at sea. In August, not a single bid was acquired at a federal public sale for brand new offshore wind farms within the North Sea. Offshore wind energy was successful story in its first section: not one of the renewable energies in Germany constantly ship extra electrical energy on a comparable expertise foundation, there are not any conflicts with native residents, and the offshore wind energy business, which has lengthy been working globally, not wants subsidies.

Now the offshore business is fearing the subsequent federal public sale, which is scheduled for February. Another spherical with zero bids can be a catastrophe for the growth of wind energy within the German maritime areas. “The offshore industry must not be sold abroad. Tens of thousands of jobs in Lower Saxony depend on this growing industry,” stated Minister Meyer. “Minister Reiche must not ruin this.” Energy politicians from the Greens and the SPD from the coastal states accuse Federal Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) of “slowing down renewables at sea,” as Meyer put it. His colleague Goldschmidt criticized Reiche’s “energy policy sloppiness”.

Many observers, together with Meyer, worry that the offshore financial system may very well be broken “like the solar industry.” At the tip of the noughties, after a profitable growth in Germany, it largely moved to China, which had massively sponsored its personal photo voltaic business. In order to forestall an analogous erosion that has already begun on the offshore wind energy market, coastal politicians and the wind energy business, in coordination with the EU, are calling for no less than a clearly outlined European share of the added worth when equipping offshore wind farms.

The site visitors mild coalition made up of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, which ruled the federal authorities from the tip of 2021 to the start of 2025, had drastically elevated the offshore growth targets after the years of “thread breaking”, to 30 gigawatts by 2030, 40 gigawatts by 2035 and 70 gigawatts by 2045. It is now believed that the offshore financial system can nonetheless obtain these targets, particularly by 2030 nobody is critical anymore. There are presently round 1,650 wind generators with a complete of round 9 gigawatts of energy linked to the grid within the German maritime areas.

The offshore business was fully overwhelmed by the site visitors mild coalition’s turbo program. In Germany there’s a lack of professional quality areas for establishing offshore wind farms, particularly on the North Sea, and there’s a lack of expert staff and system producers particularly for the offshore converters. The substations for German offshore wind farms now come from Asia and, at finest, from the Dragados shipyard in Spain. As a subcontractor, the Meyer Werft in Papenburg provides Dragados with elements for offshore converters from the Dortmund community operator Amprion. Despite years of discussions and planning, Meyer has not but been capable of set up unbiased converter manufacturing.

In order to regain momentum, the winners of the auctions, together with power firms similar to Shell and BP, should truly implement their initiatives. Nowadays there are a selection of recent obstacles: The deliberate areas are actually so removed from the coast {that a} new rescue system needs to be arrange for the individuals who will work within the wind farms sooner or later. However, the federal authorities and the business haven’t but been capable of agree on who pays for it. The generally tight planning of the areas for brand new offshore wind farms by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in Hamburg creates one other drawback: If the necessities are applied on the North Sea, the methods can be so shut that they might take away the wind from one another by “shading”.

In order to raised distribute the financial dangers of the brand new offshore wind farms, which price billions of euros, the business is pushing for the federal authorities to introduce so-called “contracts for difference”. A set electrical energy worth is agreed between the state and the operator of a wind farm. If the precise market worth is decrease, the state makes up the distinction. However, if the market worth rises above the agreed worth, the operator should pay the extra income to the state. It is unclear whether or not the federal authorities will undertake the mannequin within the foreseeable future. There is a good want for giant, simply calculable quantities of wind energy, particularly within the energy-intensive business, but additionally amongst operators of knowledge facilities, for instance – that is the idea for direct contracts between electrical energy patrons and operators of offshore wind farms.

State politicians within the coastal states and the offshore wind energy business are pushing for the federal authorities to adapt key market laws to the brand new necessities earlier than the subsequent offshore public sale. Otherwise, says Christian Meyer, “there is a risk of another round of auctions without bids like in August. That would be a fatal signal for the industry and must be prevented at all costs. A postponement could be particularly useful if it serves to optimize area planning, lead green markets, stabilize market conditions and a new, resilient tender design.”

Olaf Preuß is a enterprise reporter for WELT and WELT AM SONNTAG for Hamburg and northern Germany. He has been reporting on the offshore wind energy business for a few years.