Offshore wind power in Germany exceeds ten gigawatts for the first time

Expansion in the first half of the year

As the German Offshore Wind Energy Association announced, the systems produced around 26.1 million megawatt-hours of electricity in 2025. In calculated terms, this was enough to cover the demand of 8.7 million households with an annual consumption of 3,000 kilowatt-hours.

The industry emphasizes that offshore systems generate more electricity on average than comparable systems on land. According to the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft), 3,500 to 4,500 full-load hours are achieved at sea, compared with 2,000 to 3,000 hours on land. Conventional power plants, which are fired with coal, for example, can achieve higher values.

Higher yields than on land

Despite the milestone reached, the association points to upcoming decisions. The final investment decision has already been made for projects with a total capacity of 2.6 GW. For further offshore wind projects totaling 17.5 GW, the final investment decision is still pending.

The industry sees the expansion as an important building block of the energy transition. Offshore wind energy systems generate more electricity on average than comparable systems on land because wind conditions at sea are more consistent and stronger. This makes it possible to achieve higher yields per system.

Outlook: further projects in the pipeline

The newly installed capacity of 10.8 GW is distributed across parks in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. In recent months, parks especially in the North Sea have gone into operation, including systems from the Nordseecluster and Borkum Riffgrund 3. The He Dreiht park is also one of the more recent projects.

With the ten-gigawatt mark exceeded, the industry is moving closer to the goal of further increasing the share of renewable energies in electricity generation. The upcoming investment decisions for the additional 17.5 GW are considered crucial for continuing the expansion in the coming years.

The report was broadcast on 21.07.2026 on Deutschlandfunk. It is based on information from the German Offshore Wind Energy Association and supplementary statistics from the German Association of Energy and Water Industries.