According to regulator Bundesnetzagentur's offshore network development plan to 2025, four high-voltage direct-current grid links of 900MW each will be built to serve offshore wind farm clusters in the North Sea.
A further three high-voltage alternating current links of 250MW each will be installed for clusters in the Baltic Sea.
Two of the links in the Baltic Sea Ost-2-1 and Ost-2-2 will be completed by 2021 and the third, Ost-2-3, by 2022.
Baltic Sea connections (click to enlarge)
The first of the new North Sea links, Dolwin6 (officially Nor-3-3), will be completed in 2023. Dolwin5 (Nor-1-1), will be installed in 2024.
The remaining two North Sea links – Borwin5 (Nor-7-1), and Sylwin2 (Nor-5-2) – are due to be completed in 2025.
North Sea connections (click to enlarge)
The regulator assumes Germany's offshore wind capacity in 2025 will amount to 10.75GW, of which 8.93GW will be located in the North Sea and 1.82GW in the Baltic Sea.
Germany's Offshore Wind Act specifies that in 2021, only installations in the Baltic Sea are allowed, and not to exceed 500MW.
In 2022, the Act allows a total 500MW of offshore wind installations to be installed, divided between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
As the Baltic Sea limit of 750MW is expected to be reached by 2022, the authorised 700MW per year in the period 2023-2025 will almost certainly all be located in the North Sea.
The offshore wind projects due for installation in the 2021-2025 period will be selected by two auctions, scheduled for 1 March 2017 and 1 March 2018.
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