The German government has adopted an amendment to its offshore wind power law that sets new expansion targets of 20 gigawatts (GW) capacity by 2030 and 40 GW by 2040. Economy minister Peter Altmaier said the revised law sets a new “milestone” for offshore wind energy that allows the country to come closer to its target of reaching a renewables share in power consumption of 65 percent within the next decade. “For the first time, we’ve also set a target for 2040, which provides all involved actors with long-term planning security,” the minister added. The offshore wind power law is supposed to streamline and speed up administrative procedures in order to enable a swift implementation of licensed offshore wind projects and also sets the legal basis for green hydrogen production at sea, the minister said, according to Clean Energy Wire.

Municipal utility association VKU welcomed the amendment in principle but criticised that it failed to prevent “speculative bidding” in project tenders. Only large companies would be able to submit zero-support bids without putting their financial survival at stake, VKU head Ingbert Liebing argued.