The German power transmission system operator (TS0) Amprion has released its long-term plan, Eurobar (European Offshore Busbar), aimed at developing European offshore wind connections in the North Sea. Amprion’s coordination system would allow Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Norway and the Netherlands to develop an offshore wind potential of 200 GW by 2050. To reach this objective, the company intends to invest €15.2bn by 2028, compared with €5.2bn in 2009-2019.
In May 2020, the Federal Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany, the energy regulator Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency), the Federal Office for Shipping and Hydrography (BSH), the Ministries of Energy of the coastal states and three power transmission system operators (TSOs) – 50Hertz, Amprion and TenneT – signed a joint offshore agreement, which raises the offshore wind capacity target in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea from 15 GW to 20 GW by 2030. The Bundesnetzagentur already confirmed the connection lines required between the new offshore wind parks in the 2019 network development plan. The BSH will continue to update the area development plan by the end of 2020 to identify the locations for 20 GW of offshore wind. Coastal states will complete the approval process, while TSOs will continue to commission offshore lines to meet this 20 GW offshore wind target by 2030.