A quarter of offshore wind production curtailed in first quarter of 2023 – media report

Onshore grid bottlenecks in northwest Germany have led to a quarter of offshore wind power generation being curtailed in the first three months of 2023, reports Tagesspiegel Background based on the government reply to a parliamentary inquiry. Other methods of renewable energy generation were barely curtailed, with 3.23 percent of onshore wind and 1.94 percent of solar, said the news service. The bottleneck in question for offshore wind power is located in a region between the states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Tagesspiegel writes that the bottleneck is unlikely to be resolved before 2027, when a new line is set to be finished.

The cost of building offshore wind farms has fallen markedly in recent years, making the technology a viable contender for helping Germany achieve its goal of having 80 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030. However, a well-expanded power grid is needed to transport the electricity to the consumption centres often located in western and southern Germany. Expansion of grid infrastructure has been lagging for years.