en.Wedoany.com Reported - The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) has launched a consultation on a draft amendment to the Offshore Wind Energy Act (WindSeeG), submitted on August 10, which proposes adjustments to the offshore wind tendering system, including the introduction of bilateral contracts for difference (CfD) and an extension of the standard operating period for new wind farms to 35 years.

The draft retains Germany's target of at least 70 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2045, with annual tenders planned at 2 GW to 4.8 GW, while also creating opportunities for cross-border offshore wind projects.

The draft comes against the backdrop of the August 2025 tender for the N-10.1 and N-10.2 sites, totaling 2.5 GW, which attracted no bids, prompting the government to postpone the next tender for these two sites to 2027.

The German Offshore Wind Energy Association (BWO) welcomed the inclusion of bilateral CfDs in the draft, noting that the proposed mechanism should be part of the tender design rather than a fallback option activated only when projects fail to attract developers willing to proceed without price hedging. BWO and other industry organizations had previously called for the inclusion of CfDs in the reform of German offshore wind auctions.

BWO also criticized the draft for not including a mechanism that would allow projects awarded in the 2023 to 2025 tender rounds to be returned to the government and re-tendered. The association proposed this mechanism in May, arguing that otherwise projects that are no longer economically viable could be shelved for years, hindering the use of their grid connection capacity and offshore areas. Its proposal targeted projects from tender rounds that have not yet reached final investment decisions, allowing developers to voluntarily return projects under specific conditions, including forfeiting paid amounts, being barred from re-bidding for the same area, and making preliminary project study data available for future development.

In November 2025, BWO and other industry organizations called for long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) and an extension of the operating period for new offshore wind farms to 35 years, provisions that have been incorporated into the latest amendment.

In January, BWO and other organizations warned that failed tenders in 2025 and grid connection delays were jeopardizing future investment and Germany's 2030 expansion targets. In June, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) proposed modifications to the design of several offshore wind sites, including N-10.1 and N-10.2, in preparation for the planned re-tendering in 2027.