Firm secures key grid connection approval for Windanker
Firm secures key grid connection approval for Windanker | Windpower Monthly
The approvals apply to the section in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the section in territorial waters, known as the 12 nautical mile zone.
The approval process is still under way for the onshore route, which is the subject of the third authorisation section, and for the substation.
The Windanker offshore wind farm is being developed northeast of the island of Rügen. The ministry of economics, infrastructure, tourism and labour of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern issued the planning approval for the 77.5-kilometre cable route within territorial waters, spanning from the EEZ to the connector between the onshore and offshore cables at the port of Vierow.
The federal maritime and hydrographic agency (BSH) issued the planning approval for the section in the EEZ – covering the 24-kilometre cable route from the offshore substation and within the German EEZ, as well as construction of the offshore substation itself.
50Hertz is awaiting approval from the same ministry for the 4-kilometre onshore route, including the grid connection point, running from the connector at the port of Vierow to Stilow substation.
In addition to the cable systems connecting the wind farm to the transmission system, 50Hertz will for the first time handle the planning, construction and operation of the offshore substation. Completion of the grid connection is scheduled for Q3 2026.
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Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.