2011 WIND INDUSTRY in gERMany - Wind-Energy-Market

Economic reportOffshore – Germany slow totap potentialWhile onshore wind power has been a well established branch of the industry for years,the offshore branch is only now gaining momentum. The commissioning of the “AlphaVentus” wind farm in spring 2010 marked the start of Germany’s expansion into windpower generation at sea. The twelve wind turbines have a rated capacity of 60 MW. TheGerman government intends that offshore wind power should outstrip onshore powergeneration in the long term.Investors and wind farm operators havefound more stable wind conditions off thecoast than on land. Depending on thelocation in the North Sea or Baltic, windparks are able to achieve up to 4,000 fullloadhours per year. This means that theenergy yield offshore can be double that ofa comparable onshore plant. However,expansion in this area has been sluggish inGermany compared to other Europeancountries.In mid 2010, offshore wind farms with atotal rated capacity of 2.2 gigawatts wereconnected to the grid in Europe. This isroughly equal to the level of onshore windpower in 1995. The UK is leading the waywith an installed capacity of 1 GW anddevelopment licences have already beenissued for a further 44 GW. In 2010, thebusiness consultancy KPMG confirmed thatthe UK had the most attractive remunerationrates – and these were recentlyincreased. What is more, the UK has beenable to reduce bureaucratic obstacles inrecent years. The authors of the studytherefore believe that the UK is at anadvantage in the competition for Europewideinvestors, banks, manufacturers andsuppliers.The German government wishes to cut thisadvantage and significantly increase theexpansion of German offshore wind power.In its energy concept passed in September2010, it specifies: “To expand offshorewind power to 25 GW by 2030, a total of 75billion euros must be invested.” To achievethis goal, up to 1,500 MW must be addedeach year – this equates to one new windturbine a day during the summer constructionseason at sea.The Federal government intends to fundthe first ten offshore wind farms to overcomethe initial difficulties and to facilitatethe implementation of new technology.In 2011, the loan bank KfW(Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) is grantingloans totalling five billion euros atmarket rates as part of its special “OffshoreWind Energy” programme. Whereas previouslyonly the four major energy supplierswere in a position to bear the investmentrisk, SMEs and public utility companiesshould benefit above all from the KfWloans. The government is also establishingthe legal framework for connecting windfarm clusters – a type of multi-way socketthat is intended to connect new offshore18 Wind industry in Germany