BWO offshore wind chair elected as Germany’s turbine policy moment sharpens

The German Wind Energy Offshore Association (BWO) has elected Benedikt Scheel as its new BWO offshore wind chair, installing an Equinor executive to lead the industry body at a moment when the political framework governing Germany’s offshore expansion is actively being rewritten.

Scheel, who serves as Managing Director and Head of Policy and Regulation Germany Power at Equinor, was elected at BWO’s annual general meeting on 8 September. He takes on the chair role for a two-year term, succeeding Irina Lucke, who had held the position since 2024.

BWO offshore wind chair sets out investment case

Scheel’s opening statement did not bury the lead. ‘A secure energy supply in Germany requires a strong expansion of offshore wind energy,’ he said. ‘Reliable political framework conditions that effectively reduce costs are crucial for this so that Germany can continue to attract investment in the future.’

He added: ‘Offshore wind is an international business.’ That framing matters. Germany is competing with the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark for a finite pool of project capital, and a chair drawn from a major international operator brings direct knowledge of where that capital goes when host-country conditions deteriorate. Whether that perspective translates into lobbying leverage is another question, but the selection is not arbitrary.

Joining Scheel on the new board are two deputy chairs: Korbinian Ott, Commercial Director at Steelwind Nordenham, and Till Schwarzlose, Director Development EU at RWE Offshore. Lena Büsing, managing director of Merkur Offshore, takes on the role of CFO. The combination of a supply-chain representative in Ott, a major developer in Schwarzlose, and an independent operator in Büsing gives the board reasonable cross-sector breadth.

Why the timing of the new board appointment matters

BWO managing director Stefan Thimm was candid about the context. ‘The election of the new board comes at an important time,’ he said. ‘Especially in this phase, it is important to represent the interests of the industry in a united manner.’

That phase, as Thimm described it, involves active negotiation of central framework conditions through the amendment to the Offshore Wind Energy Act. The Act governs how offshore capacity is tendered, how costs are allocated, and what regulatory certainty developers can rely on when committing capital. An amendment in progress means the rules of the game are not yet fixed, which is precisely the moment an industry association’s chair needs to be credible in front of policymakers.

Scheel’s background in policy and regulation at Equinor positions him for that role. Whether BWO can move the dial on the Act’s final shape will depend on factors well beyond who holds the chair, including the priorities of the federal government and the fiscal pressures it is managing. But the association now has a chair whose day job involves navigating exactly this kind of regulatory negotiation.

The board changeover also marks the departure of several established figures. Lucke, Managing Director of Omexom Renewable Energies Offshore and Head of its Offshore Division, leaves the board along with former deputy chairs Till Frohloff of Nordsee One and Holger Matthiesen of Luxcara. Former CFO Jörg Kubitza had already departed in July following a change of industry.

The new board’s two-year mandate runs through a period in which Germany’s offshore wind targets will need to be backed by project-level investment decisions. Central framework conditions for offshore expansion are currently being negotiated through the Offshore Wind Energy Act amendment, and the association will need to hold a coherent position as those negotiations conclude. Scheel’s first test as BWO offshore wind chair may arrive sooner than the term’s midpoint.