'We're not quite there yet' | German offshore wind operators seek closer military ties

“From a military point of view, offshore wind expansion is not desired in many places,” Orsted Germany chief Jörg Kubitza told journalists at the Offshore Future 2024 conference in Berlin.

Kubitza – who is also the chair of German offshore wind operators’ group BWO – said that, while operators are in constant communication with the military, they often can’t have a meaningful conversation with them about key issues.

Not many operators have any Nato clearances, while military “means confidentiality, secrecy, security”, he said.

“We need interfaces between the military and business, which are desired at the state level, at the federal level.”

Both military objections and safety have come to the forefront of the planning of wind farms in recent years, following a series of incidents of sabotage in the North and Baltic Sea against marine infrastructure in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Some things are already improving, Kubitza and BWO managing director Stefan Thimm pointed out.

Nato last year set up a group that coordinates the monitoring of underwater movements to make sure no foreign or possibly hostile vessels come closer to critical marine infrastructure.

“We warmly welcome this Nato situation centre. Data is compared from the ships' tracking systems. Even if they are switched off, the data is compared with satellite images,” Thimm said.

“It then becomes obvious which ships are actually moving in the North and Baltic Seas.

“If necessary, they become visible despite AIS [automatic identification system] being switched off and then you go out and see what's actually going on. Ships that often cross the lines are of course examined.”

But more could be done to enhance security, Kubitza stressed.

“If we were involved earlier as operators, we would have the chance to install sensor connections earlier, also technically, as is the case in Poland,” he said, adding that the Eastern European country is implementing that as a prerequisite to developers to install offshore wind farms.

But “this also comes with costs and then the question is, who bears it? The operators?” Kubitza asked.

“Should this be taken into account in the tender criteria? These are topics that we are only now dealing with. We probably should have done it sooner.”

Belgium demands sensors

Other European countries are further ahead with cooperation between navies and offshore wind operators.

“If you want to build an offshore wind farm in Belgium today, you have to commit to putting military sensors on wind turbines,” WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson pointed out at the same Berlin event, adding that this has been the case in Belgium for several years.

“The Belgian Navy, the Belgian government started insisting four years ago with developers, with operators of offshore wind farms, that they sign protocols with the Navy so that it can have images from cameras, data from sensors and everything for military purposes authorities might find interesting.”

For their part, military authorities – while not outrightly guaranteeing the security of offshore energy infrastructure – are at least committing to it, Dickson said.

The meeting held in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius was also attended by Nato’s assistant secretary general for innovation, hybrid and cyber David Van Weel.

Kubitza added that the cooperation in the UK between the military and offshore wind is very close and coordinated.

“The Navy has recognised that offshore wind farms can be part of the national defence,” he said.

“We're not quite there yet [in Germany]. But I personally try to work for it.”