With the new plan, a total of 36.5 gigawatts of wind power capacity can be created.
(Photo: Reuters)
Berlin The federal government wants to promote the expansion of offshore wind power off the German coast. The new area development plan of the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), which will be published on Friday, should be a decisive means for this. In it, the BSH identifies new areas in which wind turbines can be set up.
The traffic light coalition has set itself ambitious goals for the expansion of wind power in the sea. In the German part of the North and Baltic Seas, wind turbines with an installed capacity of 30 gigawatts (GW) are expected to be in operation by 2030. In 2035 it should be 40 GW. It is currently just under eight GW.
According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, a total capacity of 36.5 gigawatts (GW) can be installed on the areas identified by the new plan. This would fulfill the prerequisites for achieving the target for 2030 and already targeting the target for 2035.
“With the publication, we are showing that we are serious about accelerating planning and are consistently advancing the expansion of renewable energies,” said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) to the Handelsblatt. Framework conditions for new wind power capacities were created here in a very short time, and now it is time to implement them.
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The offshore goals are considered ambitious. To reach them, space is needed. The new area development plan continues the previously valid plan from 2019 and takes the increased goals into account. It specifies the specific areas for wind energy in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, defines the chronological sequence of tenders, construction and grid connection.
Offshore wind power: New areas are to be planned for this spring
The plan also contains an illustration of possible additional areas in the appendix. According to the Federal Ministry of Economics, it is planned to start the next update process of the area development plan to determine the expansion after 2030 this spring.
The area development plan also forms the basis for a European offshore power grid in which the individual wind farms can be connected to one another. Results from international working groups such as the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) are taken into account. Among other things, cable routes for connecting the offshore platforms and the connection capacities to be provided on the platforms are specified.
Electricity from offshore wind farms is ideal for producing hydrogen by electrolysis. In order to test this technology on an industrial scale on the high seas, the area development plan defines an enlarged area in the North Sea that can be connected with a hydrogen pipeline. According to the ministry, the area enables an electrolysis capacity of up to one gigawatt.
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