The new German Offshore Wind Act
Offshore wind energy production has been an
ever-growing business in Germany for the last few years. The German
government was keen to subsidise the business in order to reach
their goal to eventually switch to renewable energy sources as
Germany's sole power source.
However, over the last few of years and with the introduction of
the newest amendment to the applicable law ("Gesetz zur
Einführung von Ausschreibungen für Strom aus erneuerbaren
Energien und zu weiteren Änderungen des Rechts der
erneuerbaren Energien", abbreviated EEG"), these
subsidies have been gradually reduces in order to manage the growth
of the industry.
With the additional introduction of the separate Offshore Wind
Act ("Gesetz zur Entwicklung und Förderung der
Windenergie auf See"), also referred to as
"WindSeeG", not only is there an annual cap on
construction permits but also a competitive auction system
favouring operators offering to sell their wind
