AquaVentus Calls for an Amendment to the WindSeeG for Offshore Hydrogen Production

Criticism of the Offshore Wind Energy Act (Windenergie-auf-See-Gesetz, WindSeeG) was voiced by the Aqua Ventus support association in a statement published at the end of December. In it, the initiative emphasizes that combined connection concepts for electricity and hydrogen must be legally enabled in particular. According to Aqua Ventus, such hybrid solutions are crucial to ensure that offshore wind power is not only fed into the electricity grid but can also, in the longer term, be used directly for the production of green hydrogen at sea. In the current version of the WindSeeG, however, such combined connections are not предусмотрены.

In addition, the association calls for a binding expansion target for offshore electrolyzers to be enshrined in law. Only with clear targets and integrated spatial planning, it argues, can planning certainty be created for investors and project developers. At the same time, it stresses that the regulatory framework must be designed to be technology-neutral in order to enable different concepts for hydrogen production and connection.

The initiative views the spatial development plan currently being drawn up by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie, BSH) with particular urgency. The WindSeeG, it says, must be amended in good time so that key potentials for combined electricity and hydrogen connections are not overlooked in the spatial development plan—that is, in the offshore zones designated for this purpose.

Against this background, the initiative calls on the BSH to incorporate possible legislative amendments into its planning at an early stage and to take corresponding options into account, particularly for Zones 4 and 5. However, this would require a clear political signal or a formal directive from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, BMWE) to ensure that spatial development planning from 2026 onwards also reflects future hydrogen infrastructure.