One of the first measures to be implemented by the new government led by the COU and SPD was to reform the EEG. The amendment did not meet ail the wishes of the offshore wind industry
with regard to rémunération rates and the duration they were
fixed for. Nevertheless, the EEG reform created a secure planning environment which had been lacking in the years prior to it
because the government fixed the targeted expansion by 2020
at a capacity of 6,500 mégawatts. Since the "old" strategy paper
had been published, no government had guestioned the target
of 10,000 MW. In view of the numerous delays that many offshore wind projects had suffered in the previous years, the new,
reduced target certainly seems realistic. The fly in the ointment,
however, is the capping of the long-term target to be reached by
2030: instead of the previous figure of 25,000 mégawatts, the
new government considers the construction of 15,000 MW in total as suffirent, or in other words, after 2020 around two new offshore wind farms are to be built and connected to the grid every
year for the subséquent ten years.
It is pointless to speculate whether this is the final word. Neither the expansion hitherto of offshore wind power nor the
politically motivated energy turnaround introduced in the spring
of 2011 after Fukushima, has so far been systematically or singlemindedly applied. This leaves space for offshore wind power
which faces major challenges in this country: investors, the offshore wind industry and operators of offshore wind farms must
show that the cost of utilising wind power can be significantly
reduced.
174
with regard to rémunération rates and the duration they were
fixed for. Nevertheless, the EEG reform created a secure planning environment which had been lacking in the years prior to it
because the government fixed the targeted expansion by 2020
at a capacity of 6,500 mégawatts. Since the "old" strategy paper
had been published, no government had guestioned the target
of 10,000 MW. In view of the numerous delays that many offshore wind projects had suffered in the previous years, the new,
reduced target certainly seems realistic. The fly in the ointment,
however, is the capping of the long-term target to be reached by
2030: instead of the previous figure of 25,000 mégawatts, the
new government considers the construction of 15,000 MW in total as suffirent, or in other words, after 2020 around two new offshore wind farms are to be built and connected to the grid every
year for the subséquent ten years.
It is pointless to speculate whether this is the final word. Neither the expansion hitherto of offshore wind power nor the
politically motivated energy turnaround introduced in the spring
of 2011 after Fukushima, has so far been systematically or singlemindedly applied. This leaves space for offshore wind power
which faces major challenges in this country: investors, the offshore wind industry and operators of offshore wind farms must
show that the cost of utilising wind power can be significantly
reduced.
174