Speaking to the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper, he said his ministry had approved some of the 2,500 applications received by his office for wind turbines in the North and Baltic seas. He will present the necessary ordinance for the massive offshore farms to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet on Wednesday.
“The current discussion about the nuclear waste depot Gorleben shows once again very clearly that we need to expand renewable energy,” said Tiefensee, who is a member of the centre-left Social Democrats.
According to the Transport Ministry, the wind farms would be built in German waters more than 12 miles off the coast. Together they would produce more than 12,000 megawatts – enough to supply 12 million households with electricity.
“This would bring us closer to our goal of producing 25,000 megawatts offshore by 2030,” Tiefensee said.
Of the 40 wind farms planned, 30 would be in the North Sea and 10 in the Baltic Sea. Twenty-two have already received government approval and Berlin intends to set aside some 100 square kilometres for offshore power projects. Most will be built near the East Frisian Islands.
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