BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany's cabinet on Wednesday adopted a plan to speed along the
construction of offshore wind parks in the North Sea, paving the way for a targeted
25,000 megawatts of capacity to come on line by 2030.
Germany, one of the leading onshore wind power nations, aims to move turbines out
to sea in order to help them meet national climate protection targets which in a
first step envisage renewable energies contributing 30 percent of all power by
2020.
Wind supplies six percent of German power and this is meant to double to 12 percent
under the 2020 scenario.
Wednesday's plan involves creating zones suited to the construction of wind parks
in coordination with the interests of environmental protection and the shipping
industry.
Transport minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said that 12,000 MW of offshore wind power
could be obtained by 2020.
Another plan to create wind park zones in the Baltic Sea was due to be approved in
the autumn, he said.
Tiefensee said that offshore wind technologies could provide 30,000 jobs.
Power consumers under subsidizing laws for renewable power must pay above-market
rates for wind power fed into the transmission grid.
Environmental organization NABU in a statement welcomed the decision as some 21
approved offshore projects are in the pipeline off the German coasts.
"This initiative comes at the right time as the big energy utilities prefer to bank
on a lengthening of old nuclear plants rather than building new wind parks in the
sea," NABU said.
