Offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 2,282.4 megawatts went on grid 2015. This will however initially remain a unique record, as it is based on the catch-up effects of grid connection.
According to a press release of the “Stiftung Offshore Windenergie” 546 offshore wind turbines, with a total capacity of 2,282.4 MW went on grid in Germany last year. This brings the total number of turbines connected to the grid by 31 December 2015 up to 792, with a combined capacity of 3,294.9 MW. A further 41 wind turbines with 246 MW of power were fully erected in the past year, but are not yet feeding in to the grid. 122 foundations were build offshore in 2015, for wind turbines to be installed in 2016. According to the working group AG Energiebilanzen, offshore wind turbines produced over 8 TWh of electricity in 2015. This is enough to cover the power consumption of over 2 million households or around 1.4 % of the gross electricity generation in Germany.
The offshore wind industry considers the unusually high level of expansion over the past year to be an exceptional phenomenon. This is due to problems and delays with the completion of offshore grid connections since 2013 that could only be resolved last year. The industry forecasts additional capacity of around 700 MW in 2016. The key points set by the German Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) for the EEG 2016 establish an intermediate expansion target of 11,000 megawatts in 2025.This would mean an annual expansion of bare 700 MW. So the sector is on track.
