Three of the deliberate new offshore grid connection techniques within the German North Sea, which can connect with 4 offshore wind websites to be tendered this yr and in 2026, will probably be delayed by as much as two years, in line with a letter that the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Company (BSH) despatched to the Federal Community Company on 26 January.
The explanations for the anticipated delays in offshore grid enlargement are stated to incorporate provide chain bottlenecks.
The offshore grids whose commissioning date has been pushed again are NOR-9-1, NOR-9-2, and NOR 11-2. These will join the offshore wind farms within the areas N-9.1, N-9.2 and N-11.2, in addition to the world N-13.1 to the German grid.
The German authorities has simply launched a young for 2 websites, together with N-11.2, and the areas N-9.1 and N-9.2 may even be provided to builders this yr, whereas the world N-13.1 is deliberate to be auctioned in 2026.
For the wind farms within the two areas now being out on tender, the Federal Community Company stated they had been scheduled to enter operation in 2031.
That is in step with the brand new commissioning timelines for the three offshore grid connections anticipated by the BSH.
Whereas the commissioning of the NOR-11-2 offshore grid, which can join the offshore wind farms on the soon-to-be-awarded N-11.2, in addition to the N-13.1 space, has solely been pushed to the subsequent quarter of 2031 (now deliberate in This autumn as an alternative of Q3) – the grid connections for the 2 areas that will probably be auctioned later this yr at the moment are anticipated to come back on-line two years later, in 2031 as an alternative of 2029.
Following the BSH sending the replace to the Federal Community Company, the German business organisation BWO (Bundesverband Windenergie Offshore/Federal Affiliation of Offshore Wind Power) issued a press release saying that this places the enlargement targets for offshore wind vitality in danger.
“Grid connection tasks have lengthy lead instances. It’s due to this fact good that we will speak about potential bottlenecks with six years’ warning time. The development of grid connections and offshore wind farms have to be properly coordinated. The availability chain now wants to have the ability to spend money on the enlargement of offshore wind. Due to this fact it wants industrial coverage indicators of reliability and dedication,” stated BWO Managing Director Stefan Thimm.
The BWO says it interprets the BSH’s assertion as an early warning to the Federal Community Company (BNetzA) and that “all levers should now be set in movement”, together with analyzing world procurement choices to avert the potential delay in reaching offshore wind enlargement targets, in addition to assessing whether or not different grid connection tasks might be accelerated.
“With the latest introduction of the ‘transformation part’, the German authorities has created a super instrument to make use of the income from offshore wind auctions to make a sustainable contribution to supporting the vitality transition and decarbonising the financial system,” Stefan Thimm added.
“Nonetheless, the 2023 income is for use to finance agricultural subsidies. In future, the German authorities ought to use them to get rid of bottlenecks within the worth chain with industrial coverage means. The alternatives are monumental. In line with knowledgeable calculations, multiple trillion euros in funding will probably be required to grasp the European targets for offshore wind.”
“Added to this are the constructive results on worth creation and employment by way of operation over many years. It can’t be taken without any consideration that these investments may even be made in Germany. The intention is to create the circumstances for the very best potential proportion of worth added to be generated in Germany,” stated the BWO Managing Director.
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