German cabinet clears way for offshore wind farms

Sep 16, 2009, 12:48 GMT

   Berlin - Germany cleared the way Wednesday for the construction of offshore wind farms in the North Sea as part of its plan to expand the use of renewable energy.

   The cabinet approved zoning regulations that would allow the turbines to be sited at places in Germany's exclusive economic zone, outside the 12-mile territorial limit.

   The measures, outlined by German Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee, provide safeguards for shipping and fishing in the areas as well as for the protection of marine life.

   Tiefensee said he expected to see 30 wind farms in the North Sea and 10 in the Baltic Sea coming into operation by 2020.

   The Federal Agency for Marine Transport and Hydrography BSH has already approved permits for 25 wind farms, 22 of them in the North Sea. The first farm, code-named Alpha Ventus, is already being built.

   'Windpower already accounts for 6 per cent of electricity generation,' said Tiefensee. 'Step-by-step, we want to see renewable energy make up 30 per cent of electricity supplies by 2020.'

   A further goal was to see 25,000 megawatts of power generated offshore by 2030, the minister added.

   The plans to build wind farms offshore, each consisting of dozens of turbines, lagged for more than a decade because of engineering problems, fears that they would become a danger and investor caution.

   Coastal communities also fear the turning rotors could be an eyesore.

   'The most important issue is that they not be visible from land,' said Petra Reiber, mayor of the North Sea holiday island of Sylt. 'Vacationers come here to enjoy the horizon. If they can see wind turbines, we'll have a tourism problem.'