Offshore-Windindustry

In German waters, exploitation and further expansion of offshore wind energy takes place primarily beyond the 12 nautical mile area of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). A large proportion of projects that are already connected to the grid, or are already planned or under construction, are located in the deep waters of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea.

Offshore wind energy: convergence with nearshore projects

Germany‘s first offshore pilot projects went into service as nearshore turbines in 2004 (Enova Offshore Ems-Emden), 2006 (Rostock offshore turbine) and 2008 (Hooksiel), before the arrival of offshore test field alpha-ventus – Germany’s first offshore wind farm – in 2010.

Illustration: Map of Germany with offshore project in the North and Baltic Sea

Expansion in Germany intensifies in 2014

Expansion of offshore wind energy gained significant momentum in 2014 und 2015. In 2015, offshore wind turbines with total capacity of around 2,250 MW were connected to the grid. Eight wind farms (most recently Amrumbank West) with around 2,370 MW in capacity were officially put into service in 2015 alone (2014: 400 MW, 2013: 400 MW, 2011: 48 MW, 2010: 60 MW).

Wind farms in operation – development of Germany’s offshore wind energy

Year	Offshore Wind Farm	Capacity (MW)

2015
	Amrumbank West ^a	302
	Riffgrund 1	312
	Butendiek	288
	Trianel Windpark Borkum	200
	Nordsee Ost	295
	Dan Tysk	288
	Global Tech 1	400
	Baltic 2	288

2014
	Meerwind Süd / Ost	288
	Riffgat	113

2013
	Bard Offshore 1	400

2011
	Baltic 1	48

2010
	alpha ventus	60

2008
	Hooksiel (Pilot-WEA)	5

2006
	Breitling (Pilot-WEA)	2,5

2004
	Offshore Project Ems-Emden (Pilot-WEA)	4,5


Total		rd. 3.300 MW


Status quo: 22/01/2016 Information of Operators ^a = ursprünglicher Inbetriebnahmewert laut Betreiber 288 MW, nachträglich Angabe einer Leistungserweiterung Hinweis: Offshore-Windparks werden über einen längeren Zeitraum realisiert. Die aufgeführten Jahreszahlen geben das offizielle Inbetriebnahmejahr des jeweiligen gesamten Windparks an. Statistische Abweichungen von den veröffentlichten Offshore-Jahres-Zubaubauzahlen können sich durch Teil-Realisierung von Offshore-Windparks in einem Kalenderjahr ergeben.

Up until now, Europe and the North Sea in particular have been drivers of international wind energy expansion. Following the erection of the first nearshore wind farms in Denmark in the 1990s, Denmark and Great Britain entered into the commercial offshore wind energy market in 2001/2002 and 2003/2004, respectively. By the end of 2016, European offshore wind farms had capacity of around 12,600 MW on the grid. Great Britain is considerably further ahead (with approx. 5,200 MW) than Germany (approx. 4,100 MW), Denmark (approx. 1,270 MW) and the Netherlands (approx. 1,120 MW). Furthermore, an additional eleven projects with a total level of investment of 18.2 billion euro reached final investment decision in 2016.

Cluster Moray Firth
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	370
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Hywind
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Firth of Forth
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Dogger Bank
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Hornsea
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Kingston upon Hull
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	429
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster The Wash
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	464
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Calvados
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	8
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Outer Downsing
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	317
- construct./partly commiss.:	982

Cluster Norfolk
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Austerngrund
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	800
- construct./partly commiss.:	402

wind farms in cluster
Bard Offshore 1 Global Tech 1 Veja Mate

Cluster Blyth
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	4
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Belgische Küste
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	707
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Borssele
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Le Harve
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Hastings
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	400

Cluster West of Isle of Wight
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Siragrunnen
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Liverpool
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	816
- construct./partly commiss.:	258

Cluster Morecable
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	608
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Solway Firth
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	168
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Islay
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Dublin
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	25
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Fryslan
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Colchester
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	504
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster London
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	1.256
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Stora Middelgrund
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Rødsand
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	373
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Niederländische Küste Süd
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	129
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Niederländische Küste Nord
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	228
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Anholt
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	400
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Osters
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	600

Cluster Kategatt
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Butendiek
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	288
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

wind farms in cluster
Butendiek

Cluster Skagerrak
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Westlich Sylt
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	288
- construct./partly commiss.:	288

wind farms in cluster
Dan Tysk Sandbank

Cluster Südlich Amrumbank
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	885
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

wind farms in cluster
Amrumbank West Meerwind Süd / Ost Nordsee Ost

Cluster Vesterhavet Nord
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Versterhavet Süd
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Horns Rev
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	369
- construct./partly commiss.:	400

Cluster Nordergründe
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	111

wind farms in cluster
Nordergründe

Cluster Aberdeen
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Teesside
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	62
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Oriel
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Tunø Knob
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	5
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster H2-20
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Entenschnabel
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Östlich Doggerbank
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Nördlich Austerngrund
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Westlich Deutsche Bucht
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	–
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

Cluster Nördlich Borkum
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	1.154
- construct./partly commiss.:	332

wind farms in cluster
alpha ventus Borkum Riffgrund 1 Gode Wind 1 Gode Wind 2 Nordsee One Trianel Windpark Borkum Phase 1

Cluster Riffgat
Capacity (MW)
- fully commissioned:	113
- construct./partly commiss.:	–

wind farms in cluster
Riffgat

Illustration:

North Sea international renewable energy field – interactive map of offshore wind energy areas already allocated to Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France and Ireland
As at: End of 2016, © IWR

Offshore wind energy is expanding worldwide. By the end of 2016, offshore wind farms with combined capacity of around 14,400 MW had been installed around the globe. Europe is a leader in worldwide offshore exploitation. European countries in 2016 account for 90 per cent of global offshore capacity – around 12,600 MW. Outside of Europe, large offshore wind farms have, to date, been erected in China, whose national combined capacity stood at around 1,600 MW at the end of 2016.

View the current status of worldwide exploitation by clicking on the interactive world map below:

Denmark: offshore wind energy pioneer

Europe, and particular pioneering Denmark, is the original source of international offshore wind energy development, and is at its core. As early as 1991, the Vindeby offshore wind farm of 11 450kW wind turbines was made operational in the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea at a depth of 3 to 4 metres, around 3 km from the coast. Commercial exploitation of offshore wind energy followed in 2001 and 2002 with Danish wind farms Middelgrunden and Horns Rev 1. In the years that followed, offshore expansion gained increasing momentum in Denmark and, by the end of 2016, there were over 500 offshore wind turbines in Denmark with a combined output of around 1,300 MW in operation.

Rapid growth in Great Britain

The United Kingdom followed in Denmark’s footsteps, with the first offshore wind farms in the British North Sea as from 2003/2004. Since then, offshore expansion has developed rapidly in Great Britain. Its cumulative offshore output had increased to nearly 5,200 MW by the end of 2016.

Germany: a late developer

Germany made its first foray into offshore wind energy expansion at a relatively late juncture. Its first offshore farm – the alpha ventus test site – went into operation for the first time in 2010, with 12 wind turbines and combined capacity of 60 MW. However, national offshore expansion has gained momentum recently so that Germany now ranks second behind the UK. There were around 950 turbines with combined output of 4,100 MW in operation as at the end of 2016.

Offshore Europe total