Message of Greeting

by Peter Altmaier,
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy,
for the programme for the ‘Windforce’ Offshore Wind Power Trade Show in Bremen

Last year, offshore windpower capacity off the German coast reached approx. 6.4 gigawatts. This means that Germany has already come close to reaching its target for 2020. At the same time, the cost of offshore wind power generation has fallen considerably. This became impressively clear in the transitional auctions that took place for installations due to start operating between 2021 and 2025 – auctions that were won by operators using a minimal amount of public funding.
Offshore wind energy is already contributing a great deal to the energy transition. We already know that it will continue to grow in importance and will play an important part in the future energy mix designed to allow Germany to reach its renewables target of 65% of the country’s electricity consumption by 2030.
It is important for renewables capacity and grid capacity to grow in sync, so that the energy transition can take place as cost-efficiently as possible. The Federal Government has laid the groundwork for this, including by publishing its Electricity Grid Action Plan.
Innovation is also a key factor for the success of the energy transition and also for the competitiveness of German suppliers on fast-growing international markets. This is why the Federal Government is a proponent of testing and demonstrations and has lent its support for the plans for an offshore test field, which – following the amendment of the Grid Expansion Acceleration Act – can now be connected up to the grid.
I wish all participants of Windforce 2019 engaging discussions and a successful event.