Germany doesn’t connect a single offshore wind turbine to grid in first half of 2025

The number of Germany’s offshore wind turbines connected to the grid has remained stuck at 1,639 since the end of 2024, the country’s offshore wind association BWO has said. Their combined capacity adds up to 9.2 gigawatts (GW).  At the end of June 2025, turbines with a further capacity of 1.9 GW were under construction, while 3.6 GW had received a final investment decision, and 17.5 GW had been allocated, BWO said.

“The Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm, with an expected capacity of 959 [megawatt] MW, is completed, but due to delays in the construction of the grid connection system, it will not be able to feed electricity into the grid until 2026,” BWO said.

The industry group called for changing the tender design to lower costs and smoothen the roll-out, which has slowed in the past years. “Up to 30 percent cost reduction potential is possible through a reform of the tendering design,” the association argued.

The lobby group said the framework conditions have changed significantly since current rules were introduced in 2021. “This year's auctions prove that investor interest is waning and bid totals have slumped by over 90 percent compared to previous years.” BWO blamed rigid implementation deadlines and a lack of safeguard mechanisms for the decrease.

Germany has made offshore wind power a key pillar of its plans for an almost fully renewable electricity supply. Industry said at the start of the year that Germany is likely to reach its target of having a total offshore wind electricity capacity of 30 gigawatt (GW) in 2031, one year later than planned.