Cuxhaven becomes the bottleneck for the German energy transition

Hamburg As much electricity as 40 nuclear power plants is to be generated from wind energy in the German Bight from 2035. But this ambitious plan by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) has been thwarted a few days ago by a ruling by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.

The judges confirmed the previous judgments in the last instance. The lawyers did not take into account the drastically changed requirements for Germany’s energy supply during the seven-year legal dispute.

Jan Ninnemann, professor at the Hamburg School of Business Administration, warns: “The German energy transition, at least as far as offshore wind power is concerned, is in danger of failing due to the lack of port capacity.” What worries the port experts: After the cancellation of the expansion in Bremerhaven remains on Germany’s coast only Cuxhaven remains as a relevant German offshore port.

Habeck recently increased the demands with his amendment to the offshore wind energy law: At least 30 gigawatts of electricity are to be generated off German coasts by 2030, and by 2045 even 70 gigawatts.