Plan for additional German levy on offshore wind sends 'fatal signal', industry says
Feed-in fee for operators suggested by grids agency on top of other regulatory burdens endangers economic viability of new projects, warns offshore wind federation BWO
A proposal by Germany’s federal grids agency (BNetzA) for a new grid feed-in levy on offshore wind farms endangers the economic viability of future projects and sends a ‘fatal signal’ to investors, the country’s offshore wind federation (BWO) warned.
"The offshore wind industry is already the only generation technology contributing to grid expansion," BWO managing director Stefan Thimm said.
"To now also demand feed-in levies is not only systematically wrong – it is a step backwards in energy and industrial policy.
“Anyone who drives away investors is jeopardising Germany's future viability as an energy location."
Introducing the levy – also called ‘G-component’ – would counter the central goals of the federal government of reaching security of supply, climate neutrality and the build-up of a green industry, the BWO warned. The group is representing German offshore wind operators such as RWE or EnBW.
With regulatory risks increasing, developers and investors are losing confidence, which could be seen in the lacklustre participation in the last German offshore wind auction that went into negative bidding, the group added.
This could endanger offshore wind targets and the supply chain, it continued.
Industry groups or interested parties had until yesterday to hand in written comments to the BNetzA on its plans to change the way the country's grid expansion is financed.
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