German economy ministry weighs exit option for some offshore wind site holders

Germany’s economy ministry is considering giving offshore wind developers the option to return sites they had agreed to pay billions for in auctions but now wish to exit, Tagesspiegel Background reported. “For offshore areas not subject to a central preliminary assessment that were awarded in 2023 and 2024, a one-off, orderly and time-limited option to return them is to be created,” an economy ministry spokesperson told the news service.

In mid-2023, oil majors TotalEnergies and BP pledged to pay a combined 12.6 billion euros for the right to build offshore wind farms in Germany’s North and Baltic seas. The companies, however, have reportedly since sought to exit the commitment, citing grid connection issues and a deteriorating economic environment. 

Industry groups including offshore wind association BWO and energy industry association BDEW have since called for the sites to be put to tender again. After initially rejecting the proposal, the economy ministry is now considering re-introducing the areas to the market via “special tenders”, Tagesspiegel Background reported. The re-auctions would exclude previous site holders, who would need to pay penalties to transmission system operators to ensure returns and reallocations remain the exception, it added. 

The mood in Germany’s offshore wind industry has shifted markedly in recent years. While bidders in 2023 were ready to pay billions of euros for the right to develop new projects, a subsequent auction round in 2025 failed to attract a single bid.

Parliament is already debating an amendment to the offshore wind energy act aimed at improving conditions for the sector by optimising the allocation of areas and using grid infrastructure more efficiently, Handelsblatt reported. “What matters is not the amount of capacity put out to tender, but that wind farms are actually built,” the newspaper cited ministry sources as saying. The government text for the amendment presented in August had said that a unilateral return of awarded contracts was not envisaged at the time.

Germany aims to expand offshore wind capacity to at least 70 gigawatts (GW) by 2045. Renewables covered a record 58 percent of German electricity consumption in the first half of 2026, with offshore wind a main driver of growth, and responsible for about 6 percent of total electricity generation that year. By mid-2026, the country had installed almost 11 gigawatts of offshore wind power.