Despite the greater expense of building offshore wind projects compared with onshore wind and photovoltaic generation, the heads of government of Germany's 16 federal länder underlined their support for offshore wind at their annual conference last week.
"The federal states are convinced that for Germany to achieve its ‘Energiewende’ targets - that is, the transformation of electricity supply to increasingly rely on renewable sources - "Germany cannot do without use of offshore wind energy," they agreed in a concluding statement from the conference.
The heads of government went on to state that they will continue discussing how to synchronise national renewables expansion targets with the often more ambitious targets of individual länder. Coordination is necessary to maintain control over costs, oversee network expansion, and develop strategies for still-needed fossil-fired power stations.
The federal states also expressed their willingness to modify their individual renewable energy strategies in the interests of achieving a national solution. Only Bavaria's government sees no reason to modify its targets.
