Europe Moving Offshore Together, Speech by Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Müller, EU Policy Workshop on Offshore Wind Power Deployment, 22 February 2007, TU Berlin

Professor Köppel, Mr van Steen, Professor Zervos, Ladies and Gentlemen,

• Global Challenges

I would like to warmly welcome you to the European Policy Workshop on Offshore Wind Power Deployment here in Berlin. Following the Workshops in Egmond in 2004 and Copenhagen in 2005, I am delighted to be able to continue this important series of events under our German EU Presidency. This event on offshore wind power deployment helps our Presidency to advance climate protection and secure the energy supply through the expansion of renewable energies. I would like to begin by thanking you all for your support!

This workshop is taking place at a decisive moment: for it is becoming more and more evident that energy and climate are crucial issues for our century. Why is this the case?

• The future of the global economy depends on the responsible and intelligent use of resources. Gas, oil and uranium are becoming scarce. The search for fuels is becoming harder and more expensive, prices are rocketing.
  At the same time emerging economies and developing countries need access to energy. This is a matter of human rights.

• Tensions regarding raw materials will escalate and can lead to further explosive conflicts. Wars over resources have already been waged and will become more frequent in future. In short, energy policy is peace and security policy!

• Climate change is progressing at a faster pace and more intensively than was previously expected. This is also conclusively demonstrated in the IPCC report which was published at the beginning of this month. The causes of climate change have been identified. The fact is that in the past 20 years too little has happened.

• The Stern Review and the International Energy Agency report show: the damages of climate change far exceed the cost of acting now! The longer we wait the greater will be the damage and the cost for the global economy. The window of opportunity to act is the next 10 to 15 years. So time is pressing!

We must find a joint, integrated solution to these challenges. This is the goal of the German EU Presidency. What is the role of offshore wind power in this?

• Responses of the German EU Presidency

On 10 January the European Commission presented an "energy package". The Commission calls for climate protection to be at the heart of an energy policy for Europe. This integrated approach is a step in the right direction and deserves our full support. However, opposition and concerns remain, as can be seen from the EU Energy Council Meeting a week ago. I therefore congratulate the Commission on its courage and hope that we can speedily formulate an ambitious proposal.

The Federal Environment Ministry supports the proposals of the Commission which aim at a massive increase in energy efficiency at all levels and the expansion of renewable energies. We will pursue this twin-track strategy. Nevertheless we can see that the EU is unlikely to easily achieve its expansion goal for renewables of 12% for 2010. For this reason, a long-term framework is extremely important. I therefore expressly welcome the decision of last week's Energy Council Meeting: by 2020, to achieve a binding target of at least a 10% biofuels' share in fuel consumption, and to increase the total share of renewables in primary energy consumption to 20%.   

At the European Council meeting on 8 and 9 March 2007, the German EU Presidency will again advocate an EU-wide, binding target of a 20% share in energy supply for renewables by 2020. The Renewable Energy Roadmap submitted by the Commission clearly demonstrates how we can achieve this target. The overall target must be translated into binding national goals for the individual sectors. For renewable energies this means that in 2020 around 34% of European electricity consumption would have to be covered by renewable energies. This is a major task - in 2005 only 15% was covered by renewables – but it can be accomplished.

To this end, the Member States must specifically define these targets at operational level and develop suitable measures for achieving them. I believe that we can contribute to this with this Workshop on Offshore Wind Power Deployment, and thus give the Commission's proposals concrete form.

• Offshore wind power as a pillar of future energy supply

The past few years have seen major progress in the electricity sector, especially with regard to wind power and biomass. I believe, however, that Europe will achieve a renewables share of around 34% of the electricity demand in 2020, if it exploits its enormous potential for offshore wind power too. Suitable framework conditions for expanding offshore wind power in the individual coastal states are therefore very important. This calls for action from both national governments and the European Commission.

Where do we stand today? In the whole of Europe there are offshore wind parks with an installed capacity of almost 1000 MW. Initial experience has been gained in Denmark, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden. In Germany, the use of offshore wind power has been delayed; this is largely due to the great distances of the projects from the coasts, water depths of up to 40 metres and the rising costs of wind turbines.

We need a goal for the expansion of offshore wind power in Europe. For this is the only way in which we can take a step by step approach and make the right decisions. I therefore propose that we agree on a target. This would also give the offshore wind power industry planning security and bring about a positive development, as we have experienced in wind power deployment on land.

Of course we have to ask how high this target should be. You are the experts here and should therefore make proposals. I would like to point out that at the European Renewable Energy Conference three weeks ago in Brussels, Federal Environment Minister Gabriel spoke of 50,000 MW of installed capacity in offshore wind parks in Europe by the year 2020. A study by the European Commission also shows this to be realistic.

Much could be achieved with 50,000 MW. According to the wind energy sector, in 2030 offshore wind power could even cover around 13 % of Europe's electricity consumption.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Against this background, I think it is clear to everyone what an important task you will have in this workshop. The goal you are striving for is that, in future, one tenth of European electricity consumption can be covered in a secure and climate friendly way.

• Offshore wind power in Germany

At the end of last year in Germany we achieved a fundamental improvement for offshore wind power deployment. We adopted an Act which gives the grid operators the new task of connecting offshore wind parks to the grid. Grid operators must construct and operate the grid connection for these wind parks. They can apportion the costs nationwide through the charges for use of the grid.

This opens up a new chapter: relieving the operator of an offshore wind park from the grid connection costs represents a substantial reduction in the operator's expenses.

In view of the delays, we must examine how far it is necessary to extend the deadlines for the degressive rates and to defer the expiry of the higher fee for electricity from offshore wind power in order to ensure economical plant operation.

The German government's goal up to 2030 is to have offshore wind parks with a total capacity of around 20,000 to 25,000 MW in the German North and Baltic Seas. This would cover around 15% of Germany's electricity demand. This makes both ecological and economic sense: the investments triggered by the Federal Government's offshore strategy would amount to around 50 billion euro. At least 20,000 additional jobs would be created in Germany.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is one of the largest innovation programmes for the German coastal Länder. The plus point is that this approach can also be transferred to the European level.

• The challenges for offshore wind power deployment

Much remains to be done, for:

1. The costs of offshore wind turbines have risen in recent years due to higher raw materials prices and a booming global market for onshore turbines. We must therefore continue to pursue research and development in order to control costs and make offshore wind power even more cost-effective.
2. In several Member States there are still bureaucratic permitting procedures for constructing an offshore wind park. Also to reduce costs further, these permitting procedures must be simplified – this is best done with the so-called "one stop shop" approach – that is, with only one competent authority.
3. The European electricity grid is not adequately geared to the integration of large volumes of offshore wind power. This relates firstly to a lack of grid capacities within the Member States, as the dena Grid Study in 2005 also shows to be the case for Germany. It also means that the transmission systems between the Member States must be upgraded. The interconnections to Norway and Sweden are very important, as these countries have in principle excellent regulating and reserve power capacities due to the high share of hydropower in electricity generation. This expansion would also promote more competition.

• Response of the Member States to the challenges

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Here we should discuss which tasks the Member States should undertake on their own and which ought to be performed with the support of the European Commission.

In their national research and development in offshore wind turbine technology, the EU states are competing with each other. This is a good thing. Competition leads to the best innovations. However, there are also some projects which require cooperation. For example, the investigation of cumulative environmental effects of offshore wind energy, or its integration with a transboundary offshore grid. Such "man to the moon" projects should be identified and advanced jointly within the EU. For example, with the new European Wind Energy Technology Platform. It can, for instance, also build on the cooperation between Germany and France, which have agreed on a wind power growth initiative.

The Copenhagen Strategy, which we elaborated at the October 2005 workshop, offers the right approach for offshore wind power deployment in Europe. Implementing this strategy must now take precedence.

For grid integration and the necessary adaptation of the grid infrastructures, we need the EU. The European Commission's Trans-European Energy Networks programme for electricity (TEN-E) must treat the connection of offshore wind power in Northern Europe as a priority project. We support the proposal to set up a European coordinator for this purpose.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It would be my wish that you define the areas of competence for this coordinator.

Let me return to the figure of 50,000 MW of installed offshore capacity in 2020. This is a realistic goal. It is a necessary goal. Only this will enable Europe to massively increase the renewables' share in electricity generation by 2020.

Regarding this goal, I would like to reiterate the appeal made in the Copenhagen Strategy: the Commission should develop a European action plan for offshore wind energy.

To conclude, I would be grateful if you could  - not here and now, but when you have returned to your own countries – contribute to ensuring that the European Council on 8 and 9 March adopts an EU-wide, binding target of a 20% renewables' share in energy supply by 2020.

Thank you for your attention.