Germany needs to speed up offshore wind capacity expansion to hit targets - industry

FRANKFURT, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Germany raised installed offshore power wind capacity by 257 megawatts (MW) in 2023 to reach 8,465 MW but needs to step up the pace to meet a target of 30,000 MW by the end of 2030, industry groups said on Tuesday.

Wind power is central to Germany's renewable energy transition as Berlin aims to generate at least 80% of electricity output by 2030 from green sources such as solar and wind compared with around 50% now.

"To arrive at the legally mandated expansion target, additions must rise drastically, necessitating energy and industry policies to be aligned," a wind and engineering lobby group said in a statement.

The group said to arrive at the 3,100 MW needed each year from now to reach the goal, there would have to be a better regulatory framework for investments and more suitable financial instruments.

The group's members are the German Wind Energy Association BWE, BWO, the German Offshore Wind energy foundation, VDMA Power Systems, WAB and WindEnergy Network.

The Berlin government should redesign offshore wind auctions, in line with a European Wind Energy Charter signed in December 2023, to account for inflation, but rein in future price demands by developers to protect consumer interests, they said.

The sector has also suffered from supply chain problems, soaring materials costs and some quality issues.

On Monday, Dutch transmission grid firm TenneT that has major operations in Germany, said the offshore sector was falling behind the onshore wind roll-out, citing bottlenecks in the onshore power grid. (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Jane Merriman)