Grid operator says Germany must optimise offshore wind use in North Sea

Germany should optimise the use of existing grid connections in the North Sea to connect as much offshore wind power capacity to the grid as possible, operator Tennet says in a press release. “We can see a clear potential to optimise the use of existing transmission capacities,” Tennet CEO Lex Hartmann says. About 660 megawatt (MW) of new grid connection capacity will soon lay idle in the North Sea and additional auctions for offshore wind farms could put these capacities to use and contribute to the German government’s goal of expanding the share of renewables in power consumption to 65 percent by 2030, Hartmann says. The company also makes the case for connecting German wind farms in its western territorial waters to the neighbouring Dutch power grid to save money. Tennet adds that offshore wind turbines in the German North Sea produced 8.1 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in the first half of 2018, 5.1 percent more than in the same period last year and 15 percent of all wind power generated in the country. Together with installations in the Baltic Sea, offshore wind turbines produced over 9 TWh of power.

Read the press release in German here.

See the CLEW dossier Offshore wind power in Germany for background.