Status of Offshore Wind Energy Development in Germany
First Half of 2025
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Status: 30. June 2025
1.639 Offshore wind turbines (OWT) | 9,2 GW Capacity of offshore wind turbines
Offshore Wind Energy Development
As of June 30, 2025, 1,639 offshore wind turbines (OWT) with a total capacity of around 9.2 GW are in operation in Germany. Over the course of the first half of 2025, no offshore wind turbines fed into the electricity grid for the first time. However, new offshore wind turbines were installed on existing foundations. Thus, there is a total of 1,730 offshore wind turbines located off the German coast by mid-2025, with 91 of these offshore wind turbines awaiting first feed-in. In addition, 56 foundations are installed in the seabed, which are to be fitted with offshore wind turbines in the coming months.
The expected expansion in the coming years will lead to a significant increase in total installed offshore wind energy capacity in Germany by the end of the decade. A higher level of annual expansion is expected in the years after 2030.
Expansion Targets Offshore Wind Energy
The expansion targets for offshore wind energy are defined in the German Offshore Wind Energy Act (German: Windenergie-auf-See-Gesetz or WindSeeG). It specifies that the installed capacity of offshore wind turbines connected to the grid is to be increased to at least 30 GW by 2030, to at least 40 GW by 2035 and to at least 70 GW by 2045.
According to the Offshore Realisation Agreement from November 2022 the legally specified minimum target of 40 GW by 2035 is set to be exceeded, with 50 GW to be installed by 2035. In order to achieve the expansion targets for offshore wind energy, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (German: Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie or BSH) is constantly designating new sites for future expansion in the Site Development Plan (German: Flächenentwicklungsplan or FEP). The FEP 2025, which was published by the BSH in January 2025, provides for specifications for wind energy sites and grid connection systems up to the year 2034.
Further specifications will follow in an update of the FEP 2025. The initiation of the update process is planned for 2025.
The legally defined expansion target of 30 GW for 2030 is expected to be achieved with a slight delay in the course of 2032. The WindSeeG target for 2035 of 40 GW can already be achieved in 2034 according to the plans of the FEP 2025, provided that all sites planned for this are tendered, awarded and realised as planned.
In order to achieve the increased expansion target of 50 GW in 2035, further specifications are required. This also applies to achieving the long-term legally defined expansion target of at least 70 GW offshore wind energy capacity by the end of 2045.
Activities in Offshore Wind Energy Projects
By the middle of 2025, 31 offshore wind energy projects (OWP) are fully operational in Germany. In the Borkum Riffgrund 3 OWP, the foundation installations were already completed in 2024, and the installation of the turbines was finalised at the beginning of 2025. At the OWP EnBW He Dreiht, all foundations were installed in 2024, and the erection of the offshore wind turbines has started in April 2025. The final investment decisions (FID) for the two projects Nordlicht I and Nordlicht II were made in spring 2025. For Nordlicht II, the final investment decision is still subject to the necessary approval being granted. Furthermore, for the first German OWP alpha ventus, which was fully commissioned in the year 2010, it was announced in May 2025 that the development of a decommissioning concept has begun.