The German offshore wind industry has issued a stark warning over the pace of expansion in the country, urging urgent political action as mounting delays threaten to derail national targets for 2030.

According to figures released by industry associations representing the German offshore wind sector, Germany will fall well short of its goal to reach 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by the end of the decade. Current projections indicate that only around 20 GW will be connected to the grid by 2030, with the 30 GW milestone not expected to be achieved before 2032 at the earliest.

The data, compiled by consultancy Deutsche WindGuard, shows that during 2025 a total of 41 new offshore wind turbines with a combined capacity of 518 MW were connected to the German grid. By the end of the year, 65 foundations had been installed, while 19 turbines representing 278 MW had been erected but were still not feeding electricity into the grid. In total, Germany had 1,680 offshore wind turbines installed at the end of 2025, with a combined capacity of 9,740 MW.

Delays in grid connections and the failure of the August 2025 tender round — which attracted no bids — are cited as the main reasons behind the slowdown. These challenges, the sector warns, are putting at risk investments in both awarded and future projects and undermining the economically efficient expansion of offshore wind power.

Urgent political action required

Fifteen years after Germany’s first offshore wind project, Alpha Ventus, was connected to the grid, industry representatives say the current situation demands immediate political intervention.

“The federal government is now called upon to fundamentally and swiftly reform the future tendering system in close cooperation with the industry,” said the sector’s organisations in a joint statement. They stress that the focus of future auctions must shift away from maximising state revenues and instead prioritise project realisation to ensure a secure and cost-efficient power supply.

Without a comprehensive reset, the sector warns of a loss of German and European value creation and a failure to deliver the offshore wind capacity required to meet future electricity demand. The organisations point to the United Kingdom as an example of how short-term regulatory adjustments can rapidly improve framework conditions and lead to successful tenders with a high likelihood of project delivery.

The statement is supported by the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), the German Offshore Wind Energy Association (BWO), the OFFSHORE-WINDENERGIE Foundation, VDMA Power Systems, WAB e.V. and WindEnergy Network e.V.

Tender design under scrutiny

The German government plans to re-tender the offshore wind sites that remained unawarded in August 2025 in June this year. However, the industry expects this round to fail again unless necessary adjustments are discussed and implemented as a matter of urgency, ideally already applying to the 2026 tenders.

To avoid another zero-bid round, the sector is calling for a fundamental overhaul of the tender design. Central to this demand is the end of negative bidding. Instead, the industry advocates for a revenue model that better balances investment security and project delivery within a harmonised European market framework.

Among the measures proposed are the abolition of uncapped bid components, the introduction of two-sided Contracts for Difference (CfDs) — successfully implemented in the UK — and stronger safeguards for Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). These steps, the organisations argue, would reduce realisation risks, lower financing costs and stabilise the expansion pathway.

In parallel, penalties, securities and sanctions should be adjusted to prevent option-based bidding and project cancellations. The industry has criticised the current tender design for years, and the failure of the August 2025 auction, it says, confirms the validity of these concerns and the urgent need for reform.

The organisations also call for rapid amendments to the Offshore Wind Energy Act (Windenergie-auf-See-Gesetz, WindSeeG), warning that further delays would be incompatible with the scale of the challenges facing the sector. They argue for improved yield-oriented site planning, including the reduction of wake effects, and stress that the focus should not be solely on installed capacity or turbine numbers but on achieving the most cost-efficient energy output. System costs as a whole, not just grid costs, must be taken into account.

To enable regulatory changes in time, a postponement of the 2026 tender rounds to the fourth quarter of the year is being considered as a possible solution.

Strengthening European cooperation

Beyond national reforms, the offshore wind industry is also calling for closer European cooperation. Governments of North Sea and Baltic Sea countries should align more closely on expansion pathways, spatial planning and capacity targets to ensure a continuous market ramp-up and long-term investment security.

In particular, Germany and Denmark are urged to intensify cooperation on cross-border site development. At the European level, the sector is calling for effective instruments to protect against market distortions caused by unfair pricing practices from state-subsidised actors, warning that a level playing field is essential for fair competition.

The enhanced cooperation driven by the North Sea Summit is seen as a strong signal to the industry. However, the organisations emphasise that concrete implementation is now critical to create a stable and reliable framework for offshore wind development.

National security and port infrastructure

The statement also highlights offshore wind farms as a decentralised and digitally interconnected component of Germany’s energy system, making them increasingly relevant in the context of geopolitical tensions. The industry calls for political and regulatory frameworks that effectively address both physical and digital security risks, including access to critical infrastructure by operators, service providers and manufacturers, to safeguard national and supply security interests.

In addition, the sector underlines the strategic importance of seaports, describing them as the backbone of offshore wind expansion. Without sufficient port capacity and high-performance infrastructure, the industry warns, expansion targets will not be achievable. To address this, the organisations are calling for significantly stronger financial participation from the federal government, noting that the infrastructure special fund offers an opportunity to take decisive responsibility.