The European Commission has approved Germany’s initiative to develop 20 offshore wind power facilities in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
The Commission found the project to be compliant with European Union’s state aid rules as it would boost power generation for the European markets without majorly affecting the competition.
The operators for the project would receive state aids in the form of a premium, along with the standard market charges for power.
The proposed wind energy projects will have generation capacities ranging from 252MW to 688MW. The total renewable power output of the project will be up to 7GW.
Investment for the project is likely to be approximately €29.3bn, European Commission said. Commissioning of all the power plants is expected to be done by 2019.
The farms are projected to supply 28TWh of wind power a year.
The project has been planned to provide nearly 13% of Germany’s 2020 renewable energy targets specified the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP).
The German projects have been found to comply with the European Commission’s Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy.
The initiative is expected to open up the German power market for external developers and electricity providers, the Commission said.
