E.On says that it and other energy companies in Germany may stop investing in offshore wind energy because serious delays in getting wind farms connected to the grid.
The German utility told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that the delays are putting at risk Germany’s plans to drastically increase the level of green energy on the grid. Mike Winkel, head of E.On’s Climate & Renewables division, called the situation “disastrous”.
Grid operator TenneT has declared itself well behind schedule in connecting offshore wind farms to the grid, including E.On’s Amrumbank offshore site which E.On says is 15 months behind. It believes that grid operators have underestimated the challenges of offshore grid connections, and that there is not enough regulatory certainty.
Winkel told Berliner Zeitung that grid operators are not given sufficient financial incentives to connect wind farms to the grid. He also believes that there is a lack of co-ordination among the authorities as to who is responsible for what.
“We have a very big problem,” Winkel told the newspaper. “I’m pessimistic for the time after 2015 if nothing changes. No one will go on investing if the grid link is as uncertain as it is now, neither E.on nor others.”
He said E.On plans two other major projects after Amrumbank, one in the North Sea and one in the Baltic. “But given the uncertain grid link, we can’t make an investment decision at present.” He said the problem with the link “poses an acute threat to Germany’s energy revolution.”
