There is a lack of port space for expansion
Thousands of wind turbines the height of the Eiffel Tower are needed
December 4th, 2023, 4:45 p.m
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Wind power should become the backbone of German energy supply. But the road to achieving the ambitious goals is rocky. This is shown in an analysis of offshore expansion, which sees the lack of port space as the main problem.
From the perspective of the wind power industry, the planned expansion of wind energy at sea requires up to 200 hectares of additional heavy-duty areas in the German seaports. “This corresponds to the area of a parking lot with 260,000 cars or 270 football fields,” says an analysis by the Offshore Wind Energy Foundation. “Investments worth billions will be needed in the coming years.”
The demand is supported by the Hamburg Renewable Energy Network, the wind industry and hydrogen association WAB and the WindEnergy Network. “The seaports are the central hubs of offshore wind energy,” said the foundation’s managing director, Karina Würtz. “Whether as base ports for the construction and later dismantling of the wind farms, as service ports for operation and maintenance, as storage areas or as production sites – they take on a variety of functions in the field of offshore wind energy.”
The federal government wants to expand offshore wind power to a capacity of 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and to 70 GW by 2045. This corresponds to an expansion of 62 GW within the next 22 years and, according to industry sources, requires up to 7,000 new offshore wind turbines, “with 300 meters as high as the Eiffel Tower, 2,500-ton steel foundations, over 100-meter-long high-tech rotor blades” and 20,000 tons heavy converter stations as hubs.
Already in the summer, Karina Würtz said in an interview with ntv.de: “To install a capacity of 30 gigawatts by 2030 or at least 40 gigawatts by 2040… That will be difficult because we lack port space. We don’t have nearly enough transshipment space and heavy-duty space, which would be able to absorb this expansion peak. Because only a small amount of wind power will be added until 2028. Massive expansion is then planned for three years. After that it will be scaled back again. No infrastructure can prepare for this curve. It’s even worth it not.”
Difficult financing situation
The expansion of offshore wind power should also be promoted outside of Germany. “The increasing European competition for port space due to the new expansion rate and the difficult financing situation represent an incalculable risk to achieving the offshore wind expansion goals,” says the Wind Energy Foundation.
“While the Dutch and Danish ports of Eemshaven and Esbjerg have focused heavily on the offshore wind sector in recent years and have also taken large market shares from the German ports, the latter have increasingly turned to other business areas.” However, the capacities of the foreign ports will probably no longer be sufficient from 2027 onwards to be able to adequately support German expansion.