German North Sea wind farms produce more electricity in 2020 than ever before

German wind farms in the North Sea produced more electricity last year than ever before. In 2020, the amount produced rose by 12.4 percent to 22.76 terawatt hours (TWh) compared to 2019, according to the grid operator TenneT. An additional 4.13 TWh was produced by windfarms in the Baltic Sea, an amount that remains virtually unchanged compared to 2019. German offshore wind power plants therefore produced a combined total of 26.9 TWh in 2020, compared to 24.38 TWh the year before, making up a good 20 percent of the total wind power production in Germany, Der Spiegel writes. The total wind power is equivalent to the power use of almost 34 million households, it said. North Sea offshore wind power plants alone could supply almost seven million households, according to Tennet. 

At 7132 megawatts (MW), TenneT's capacities for transporting North Sea electricity to the mainland are significantly higher than production. The German government has thus exceeded its offshore wind capacity target of 6500 MW in 2020. By 2030, the German government aims for an offshore wind capacity target of 20,000 MW. TenneT plans to increase its offshore capacities to about 17,000 MW by that same year. The grid operator also plans to build the first cross-border wind energy distribution hub in the North Sea by 2035 with a capacity of 12 large power plants, which will supply Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany with wind power from the North Sea. "The North Sea will become the new powerhouse of Northwest Europe," said Tennet managing director Tim Meyerjürgens.