Wind Energy – Germany
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, amendments to a German scheme to support offshore wind energy generation in Germany (German Offshore Wind Energy Act – ‘WindSeeG’).
The scheme complements the German Renewable Energy Act (Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz – ‘EEG 2023′) and will further contribute to achieving Germany’s energy and environmental targets and the EU’s strategic objectives relating to the European Green Deal.
Germany notified to the Commission its intention to amend the existing WindSeeG scheme to further develop offshore wind energy generation in Germany. The original scheme was approved by the Commission on 23 July 2014 (SA.38632) and was prolonged and amended several times, lastly in 2021 (SA.57610), under the 2014 Guidelines on State aid for climate, environmental protection and energy.
Germany notified the following amendments to the scheme, with a total budget of €1.5 billion:
An increase of expansion targets for installed capacity of offshore wind energy installations (i) from 20 GW to at least 30 GW by 2030; (ii) to at least 40 GW by 2035; and (iii) from 40 GW to at least 70 GW by 2040;
A new tender procedure for a different type of sites in the German Exclusive Economic Zone (‘EEZ’) allowing offshore wind electricity producers to bid for sites that have not been centrally pre-investigated by the German government. With this new procedure, Germany expects to increase and speed up offshore wind development.
A dynamic bidding procedure for tenders for non-centrally pre-investigated sites, which will allow Germany to differentiate and select between multiple bids with a bid value of zero.
The amended scheme will continue to be applicable until the end of 2026.
