The German offshore wind industry is currently in a difficult phase. Political decisions in the past have resulted in what is known as a “thread break” – until 2022, no new offshore wind turbines will be able to go into operation in Germany. Drastic drops in sales, company bankruptcies and job losses throughout the entire value chain were – and still are – the result.
Nonetheless, offshore wind energy is gaining in importance worldwide as the backbone of the energy system of the future. In the past two or three years, a global dynamic has developed in which more and more countries want to participate. This development can currently be observed most dynamically in Japan, Taiwan and the USA – there is a real optimism here.
In order to counteract the expansion gap in the German offshore wind energy industry and at the same time to support the emerging offshore wind nations with bundled expertise, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Renewable Energies (BMWi), together with the OFFSHORE-WINDENERGIE foundation and the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) initiated the “German Offshore Wind Initiative (GOI)” project.
The aim of the project is to support German offshore companies – especially SMEs – in opening up the three focus markets of Japan, Taiwan and the USA and thereby strengthening their export business.
In order to provide active, practical support for entering the market, representatives in each of the three target markets will now help with networking and winning orders. As a direct link between local market players and the domestic offshore wind industry, they are connected to the infrastructure of the German Chambers of Commerce (AHKs) in Tokyo, Taipei and New York.
On September 15, we would like to initiate the official start of our lighthouse project to strengthen the German offshore economy together with you at a press conference, inform you about support options and introduce our representatives. We would like to welcome Mr. Thomas Bareiß (Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy / virtual), Prof. Martin Skiba (Chairman of the World Forum Offshore Wind eV) and Ms. Karina Würtz (Managing Director of the OFFSHORE WIND ENERGY Foundation). In addition, our three representatives will introduce themselves live to the audience for the first time and are available to answer questions.
The event will be broadcast on YouTube via livestream. If you would like to participate, please register using the form. The login details will be sent to you by email shortly before the event begins.
