Delays at German offshore wind grid links send 'signal of uncertainty'

The announcement of an expected delay in completion of two key German offshore wind grid links is sending “a signal of uncertainty to the value chain” warned offshore wind federation BWO, a group representing offshore operators.

Transmission system operator Amprion on Tuesday said it won’t be able to take the 2GW BalWin1 and the 2GW BalWin2 grid connections into operation in 2029 and 2030 respectively as the government in Berlin had envisioned. The government previously had moved forward some grid connection dates after raising its 2030 offshore wind target to 30GW from 20GW previously planned.

“We were able to secure capacities for the key construction components on the market at an early stage,” Amprion Offshore managing director Carsten Lehmköster said.

“Despite intensive efforts, however, the strong acceleration of two or three years cannot be achieved due to the tight market."

The TSO now plans to bring BalWin1 and 2 online in 2030 and 2031 respectively.

The delay of the two gigascale grid links is another sign of how seriously all those involved should take current challenges in the offshore wind supply chain, BWO managing director Stefan Thimm said.

“Now two grid connection systems with a total capacity of 4GW are already missing the deadline for the legal target of at least 30GW by 2030. This sends a signal of uncertainty to the value chain.”

Thimm added that there are further limiting factors to the expansion of wind at sea that must urgently be resolved politically, such as the expansion and upgrading of German seaports.

“Here, the federal government failed to provide early clarity on the financing of expansion projects,” he said.

“The shortage of suitable areas is well known. So are obvious expansion projects. They must be advanced immediately and with urgency.”