German economy ministry to present new investment framework for offshore wind – media

Germany's economy ministry (BMWE) is working on a new investment framework for offshore wind farms, after the final tender of 2025 failed to secure any bids, Tagesspiegel Background reported. The industry could expect a “signal” by the time the North Sea Summit takes place in Hamburg at the end of the month, Christian Schmidt, head of the electricity department at the ministry, said during at an event hosted by transmission system operator TenneT on Monday (12 January).

Risks for offshore wind developers have increased in recent years due to geopolitical tensions and supply chain bottlenecks, as well as increasingly difficult-to-predict price and volume risks in the electricity market. The industry has criticised that current plans would also build wind farms too close together so that their output would be reduced due to shadowing effects.

The industry said that in the current environment, subsidy-free bids were no longer possible. "We have to respond to that,” Tagesspiegel Background quoted Schmidt as saying. In Summer 2023, oil majors BP and TotalEnergies pledged to pay a combined 12.6 billion in a German auction for the right to build offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic seas. The auction marked the first time that investors paid for the right to build offshore wind parks in Germany. In contrast, the latest auction received no bids.

Against warnings from industry and political leaders in Germany’s northern states, the government intends to stick to the next round of auctions for offshore wind in February, according to Tagesspiegel Background. Sticking to this deadline would only give more ammunition to populist parties rallying against the energy transition, the outlet quoted Timm Meyerjürgens, TenneT’s CEO, as saying. “The auction will not be successful, everyone knows that,” Meyerjürgens said.

Germany has made offshore wind power a key pillar of its plans for an almost fully renewable electricity supply. Industry experts said last year that the country is likely to reach its 2030 target of having 30 gigawatts (GW) of total offshore wind electricity capacity one year later than planned.