US and Germany Set Offshore Wind Target Of 30 GW By 2030

Close on the heels of the G7 meeting in Berlin, German and US officials last week inked a joint declaration on how to walk together in the area of climate and energy, after forming four working groups earlier this year in preparation for the partnership, two of which are specifically dedicated to offshore wind and hydrogen. For offshore wind, both countries have set targets of 30 GW by 2030. The US took over the steering wheel at the beginning of 2021, and Germany last month as part of the recently passed “Easter Package”. Currently, even as Germany has close to 8 GW of offshore wind capacity installed, the US number is negligible, although the pipeline for Offshore wind is scaling up rapidly.

The climate ministers of G7 countries had put their heads together in Berlin a few days ago to make headway. The partnership between the two countries aims to intensify cooperation in the field of energy and climate, with the joint declaration identifying three key areas of collaboration:

• Accelerating climate action to ensure a net-zero future
• Developing and deploying technologies to speed the energy transition
• Promoting ambitious climate policies and energy security in third countries.

Established before the new partnership, the four working groups are committed to hydrogen, offshore wind, zero-emission vehicles, and cooperation with third countries. Besides, they are envisioned to develop action plans, including cross-sectoral approaches and concrete projects. Each of the groups will continue to hold expert-level meetings as part of the partnership.

The offshore wind working group is currently drawing up a joint strategy paper on transatlantic cooperation, including on the prevention of capacity shortages and on the sharing of expertise. At the invitation of the German Economic Affairs Ministry, a US delegation will travel to Germany in June and, among other things, visit the Heligoland wind farm.

The US State Department and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection will also participate in the partnership, which provides for annual or biannual meetings at ministerial level, as well as for a high-level bilateral steering group that will meet three times a year. The US now has two commercial-scale offshore wind farms under construction, South Fork and Vineyard Wind 1, and several projects in the permitting process, which was accelerated after the offshore wind target was set.