Germany Raises Offshore Wind Power Goal to 40 GW in 20 Yrs

The German Cabinet has passed a bill that would set a goal of 40 GW of offshore wind power capacity installation by 2040, marking a surge of almost five-fold.

The move came as the German government wants to significantly surge its offshore wind energy capacity from current 7.5 GW (approx) to 40 GW as part of its plan to reduce fossil fuels contribution from the country’s total energy mix.

Besides, the country has also raised its target for 2030 from 15 GW to 20 GW.

Country’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said quoted PTI that the new offshore wind target for 2030 would help Germany achieve its goal of meeting 65 per cent of its gross electricity consumption with renewable energy in a decade.

The Minister added that the longer-term target would provide businesses and coastal regions with planning certainty.

Germany’s offshore wind generation is dwarfed by the number of turbines installed on land, which already have a combined capacity of 54 GW.

In line with this Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has also said that she supported the goal of making Europe ‘climate neutral’ by 2050 to curb global warming.

However, this ambitious target will require the world’s biggest economic bloc to phase out the use of fossil fuels. Because clean energy generated by wind and solar plants fluctuates depending on the weather, one proposal is to use excess energy generated to produce hydrogen that can be easily stored, transported and burned without releasing greenhouse gases.

Earlier, the report of GlobalData revealed that the share of renewables in Germany reached 53.4 per cent of the country’s power capacity mix in 2018 and is expected to reach 72.7 per cent by 2030, with non-hydro renewable energy expected to meet the country’s future power demand after nuclear and coal is phased out.