Department of International Cooperation

Wind farm Arkona - Largest wind farm of the entire Baltic Sea(Photo: RWE)

Germany, which started the transition to low-carbon, renewable energy supply earlier than any other country, began to set up offshore wind power demonstration wind farms in 2010.

Germany reached a significant milestone in its energy transition by briefly covering 100 percent of its electricity use with renewables for the first time ever on Jan. 1, 2018. Wind power accounted for 85 percent of the total.

For the whole of 2018, renewables accounted for about 40 percent of electricity generated nationwide. Wind power was the second main source of electricity generation, accounting for about 20 percent of the total, behind only coal.

In 2019, Germany maintained its position as the world’s second largest offshore wind power market, with total installed capacity of 7.5 gigawatts (GW), behind only the United Kingdom at 9.7 GW.

The German government raised its target for the country’s total offshore wind power installed capacity to 20 GW by the year 2030 from the original 15 GW.

In April last year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the opening of the world’s largest wind farm in the Baltic Sea. Arkona features 60 Siemens Gamesa SWT-6.0-15 turbines, which took just three months to install, marking a new record in the sector.