Germany offshore wind investment faces legal framework crisis, says BWE

Germany offshore wind investment is at risk of stalling unless the government delivers a robust legal framework, the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) warned at the Offshore Wind Industry Forum. BWE President Bärbel Heidebroek said the amended Wind Energy at Sea Act (WindSeeG) does not yet go far enough to secure the investments and successful tenders the sector needs.

‘The wind energy sector lacks investment security,’ Heidebroek said. ‘The German government must finally show that it is serious about the energy transition and create a robust legal basis for the further expansion of wind energy.’

What the draft WindSeeG amendment actually proposes

The draft amendment, as detailed by Windtech International, proposes annual tenders of between 2,000 MW and 4,800 MW, alongside an extension of the standard operating period for new offshore wind farms from 25 to 35 years. The operating period change matters for project economics: a decade of additional revenue certainty should, in theory, make financing easier and improve returns for developers carrying high upfront capital costs.

But Heidebroek made clear that the two-stage tendering model proposed within the WindSeeG falls short of what industry requires. The BWE is calling for improvement to the model, which it views as insufficient to unlock the pipeline of projects Germany needs. According to Watson Farley & Williams, Germany has raised its offshore wind expansion targets to 20 GW by 2030 and 40 GW by 2040. The gap between those ambitions and the current framework’s ability to deliver them is exactly where the BWE’s frustration sits.

The stakes are not purely climatic. Heidebroek pointed specifically to the Port of Cuxhaven, whose expansion has created infrastructure that now needs a reliable offshore project pipeline to justify it economically. Legislative gaps that delay or reduce the pipeline leave that infrastructure commercially exposed.

Germany offshore wind investment: a tender that attracted no bids

The urgency is not theoretical. The German Offshore Wind Energy Association (BWO) has pointed to the absence of bids in August 2025 as evidence that the current framework is already failing the market. A tender that attracts no interest is not a pipeline; it is a warning. The BWO argues the episode demonstrates the urgent need for a swift amendment to the offshore wind act.

To address the underlying economics, industry associations including the BWO are advocating for an indexed, two-sided Contracts for Difference (CfD) model as a risk-hedging instrument. A two-sided CfD caps both upside and downside for developers: when wholesale prices fall below a strike price, the government tops up revenue; when they exceed it, developers pay back the difference. The BWO’s position is that this structure reduces financing risks and raises the likelihood of projects actually reaching financial close, rather than sitting in development queues indefinitely.

That is a sharper instrument than a simple revenue floor, and the distinction matters. Critics of the current German tendering approach have long argued that without a price-stabilising mechanism, developers price political and market risk into their bids, either inflating costs or walking away from tenders altogether. The August 2025 no-bid result suggests those critics have a point.

Three legislative vehicles, one window to get it right

Heidebroek identified three pieces of incoming legislation where the government has a chance to correct course: the WindSeeG amendment itself, the forthcoming amendment to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), and a grid connection package. She was explicit that all three must enable investment rather than constrain it. Provisions that threaten reduced revenue, she argued, work directly against the investment environment Germany claims to want.

‘Further expansion is crucial for the success of Germany as a business location and for achieving climate goals,’ Heidebroek said. With 40 GW of offshore capacity targeted by 2040, the legislative choices made in the current parliamentary cycle will determine whether Germany’s offshore wind ambitions remain credible or become a case study in how good targets and poor frameworks cancel each other out. The BWO is calling for swift reform; the government’s response to the three live legislative vehicles will be the test.