“We must be courageous and start now: offshore wind parks help us to halt man-made climate change and to become more energy-independent,” said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the North Sea Summit in Esbjerg, Denmark. At the summit, the littoral states of Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany agreed on closer cooperation in conjunction with the EU Commission to enable the production of more offshore wind energy.

The North Sea was the location at which economically viable electricity could be produced on a large scale using offshore wind parks, said Federal Chancellor Scholz. He had travelled to Esbjerg together with Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck on Wednesday at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Denmark.

A joint summit declaration underscores the important role of wind power at sea and offshore hydrogen for the energy transition and for energy security in Europe. Read the declaration text here. 

Accelerating the energy transition in Europe

The Federal Government is accelerating the expansion of renewable energies in order to achieve the European and national climate goals. In addition, dependence on Russian energy imports s to be further reduced. To this end, Germany wants to work more intensively with European partners in the area of offshore wind power.

The Summit Declaration of Esbjerg also includes joint offshore projects. Suitable conditions are needed in order to finance wind turbines, integrate them into the energy grids and make them available to the European market.

Higher expansion goals for offshore wind power

The Federal Government has increased the expansion goals for offshore wind power.
Germany aims to achieve a rated capacity of offshore wind turbines of at least 30 gigawatts by 2030. By 2035, the power is to reach at least 40 gigawatts, and at least 70 gigawatts by 2045. The Federal Government approved the Amendment to the Offshore Wind Energy Act on 6 April.

Independence from Russia

In response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU Commission presented a plan to enable the EU to quickly become independent of Russian energy supplies.
This includes increasing the 2030 target for the proportion of renewable energies in the EU from 40 to 45 percent. The plan aims to help save energy and to accelerate the withdrawal from fossil fuels and the transition to renewable energy.