The plans from the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) will ensure that the target can be reached, the Ministry of Economy said in a statement.
In addition, there would be enough room for 40 GW by 2035, and possibly more than 10 GW beyond that by that date.
When the current government took power in late 2021, its coalition agreement stipulated wind power of 30 GW, adding 10 GW to previous plans.
“The BSH plan, together with our offshore agreement of November 2022 (with states and energy grid operators), is another piece in our master plan to achieve the high goals for energy expansion renewable,” said Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
The plans represent a quadrupling of current capacity, which amounts to 8 GW. That statement gave no details of the plans.
Offshore wind turbines in the open sea have higher full load hours than land-based ones, which appeals to investors and makes the renewable energy source suitable to help Germany meet carbon reduction goals as it withdraws from coal, gas and oil in the coming years.
Germany aims to get 80% of its energy from clean sources by 2030, compared to just under half in 2022.
To accelerate the development of offshore sites and overcome other uses, offshore wind has been declared to be of high public interest, and measures to create links with the networks of the electricity on land.
Because offshore wind can be turned into clean hydrogen through electrolysis plants, plans have also been integrated for a pipeline originating from the North Sea to carry 1 GW of hydrogen.
There are also provisions to integrate Germany’s turbines into a wider offshore network that includes European neighbors bordering the North Sea.
(Reporting by Markus Wacket and Vera Eckert, editing by Sharon Singleton)
