“Artificial monopoly” connecting German offshore wind parks

There is an “artificial monopoly” connecting Germany’s offshore wind parks with the mainland, said Martin Neubert, managing director of Orsted Wind Power Germany (formerly DONG Energy), write Franz Hubik and Klaus Stratmann in Handelsblatt. While companies are bidding to build and operate the wind parks themselves, grid operators TenneT and 50Hertz are responsible for the connection, according to German regulation. Neubert is calling for auctions so that his and other companies also have the opportunity to connect parks with the mainland. The connection costs make up about one-third of the total costs for a wind park, write Hubik and Stratmann.

Read the article (behind paywall) in German here.

See the CLEW dossier The energy transition and Germany’s power grid for more information.