Germany's BSH Charts 70 GW Offshore Wind Future While Cutting Five Grid Connections

Germany's Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has launched the procedure to revise the 2025 Site Development Plan for offshore wind, publishing a preliminary draft that sets out how installed capacity could grow from around 11 gigawatts today to 70 gigawatts by 2045.

A key element of the agency's approach is so-called overbuilding: installing turbines with more capacity on an area than the grid connection can transmit. Because turbines rarely reach maximum output simultaneously, the connection can be used more efficiently.

Combined with other measures, this allows the BSH to drop five grid connections that earlier planning had still foreseen, saving costs in the double-digit billions and reducing the number of cable routes through sensitive coastal sea areas.

Authorities and the public may submit comments on the preliminary draft until December 3, 2026. Together with the draft, the BSH published the scoping framework for the Strategic Environmental Assessment, and the draft already builds on the current version of the amendment to the Offshore Wind Energy Act, the WindSeeG.

Looking Past the 2027 Tender Round

In October, the BSH had already used the second amendment of the 2025 Site Development Plan to improve conditions for the 2027 tenders in the short term. The new preliminary draft extends the horizon, laying out the outlook for the years beyond.

The agency said the procedure must be completed in time for the tenders in 2028. BSH President Helge Heegewaldt emphasized that expanding offshore wind farms and their grid connections must go hand in hand. The agency's goal, he said, is to give companies long-term planning certainty while keeping flexibility for future developments. He described the effort as continuing the success story of offshore expansion.

Heegewaldt also addressed why the BSH is running its procedure in parallel with the WindSeeG amendment. This timing allows statutory decisions to flow into sectoral planning promptly, he said. Any adjustments arising from the parliamentary procedure currently under way will be incorporated as the Site Development Plan process continues.

More Space Between Turbines for Better Yields

For the newly designated wind farm areas, the BSH is planning with a lower power density, meaning less capacity per square kilometer. Turbines can stand farther apart and influence each other less, which improves electricity yields.

Each new area is planned for 1,100 megawatts, a marked reduction from the 2,000 megawatts that was previously the regular figure. Despite the lower density, the agency stated that the statutory expansion target of 70 gigawatts by 2045 will continue to be met.

A Spatially Distributed Development Sequence Under Consideration

The BSH is also reviewing a different sequence for expansion. Instead of planning wind farm areas step by step from the coast toward the open sea, the agency is considering a more spatially distributed approach.

Under that scenario, larger open spaces could remain between already developed areas and wind farms added later for a longer period. The aim is to prevent wind farms from influencing each other too strongly while the areas designated for wind energy are not yet fully built out.

To evaluate this concept, the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES) carried out yield simulations. According to the BSH, these simulations show that higher overall electricity yields would be possible over time with such an approach. The simulation results have been published alongside the other planning documents.

Shifting Areas to Protect Seabirds

The planning of wind farm areas has also been adjusted with regard to seabirds, which the agency said protects the marine environment better. Area N-17 is shifted to the southeast, and area N-16 is adjusted on a small scale along its northwestern edge.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment will examine the effects on the marine environment in the further course of the procedure. Measures to avoid or reduce the environmental impacts of offshore wind expansion will also be set out as part of that assessment.

Acceleration Areas and the Future of Existing Sites

The preliminary draft provides for five acceleration areas, which are to be designated at plan level for the first time and which are envisaged in the European Renewable Energy Directive (RED III). The draft also presents scenarios for the subsequent use of existing areas. This planning sets the framework for the continued operation of existing wind farms, with possible stipulations to be made more concrete as the procedure advances.

Designating Only What Will Be Built by the Late 2030s

While the preliminary draft presents a long-term perspective, the BSH expects to designate only those areas and grid connections that will go into operation by around the end of the 2030s. According to the agency, this gives grid expansion in particular the planning certainty it needs while leaving room for later decisions. How far the designations should extend in practice remains an open question for the consultation.

Hearing in Hamburg and Next Consultation Round

The BSH is inviting stakeholders to a hearing on January 19, 2027, at the Hamburg Chamber of Crafts. Based on all feedback received, the agency will then prepare a draft together with environmental reports, on which authorities and the public will be able to comment again.