Consultation on the ministerial draft of the Third Act amending the Offshore Wind Energy Act (WindSeeG amendment). Statement for the hearing of the Länder and associations — AquaVentus Förderverein e.V.
The AquaVentus Förderverein e.V. takes the opportunity to comment in the hearing of the Länder and associations on the ministerial draft of the WindSeeG amendment. As the representative of member companies along the entire offshore hydrogen value chain, we welcome the present draft in principle and would like to set out four points below.
1. Express welcome for the core elements
. AquaVentus expressly welcomes the fact that the ministerial draft consistently implements the mandate anchored in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD to enable hybrid connections (cable and hydrogen pipeline) for offshore wind installations. By deleting the previous connection ban for other energy generation areas and explicitly naming electrolysers as an intended application, the draft creates for the first time a robust legal basis for offshore sector coupling. The approach outlined in the explanatory memorandum of a step-by-step ramp-up — first trialling at industrial scale on an existing other energy generation area, then transferring the findings to further sites in Zones 4 and 5 — corresponds exactly to the position that AquaVentus and the industry coalition behind it have held for years. In addition, AquaVentus suggests anchoring a uniform authorisation regime in the Offshore Wind Energy Act for lines that serve both to connect other energy generation areas such as SEN-1 and to transport hydrogen across borders ("multifunctional hydrogen pipelines"). For the AquaDuctus project — the planned line from SEN-1 to the coast and onwards into a European hydrogen core network — it is decisive that the production and transit functions are not dealt with in separate, potentially conflicting approval procedures under the Offshore Wind Energy Act on the one hand and the Federal Mining Act on the other. A consolidated procedure that leaves the substantive requirements of the Federal Mining Act for transit pipelines untouched and involves the competent mining authority early would create planning certainty and accelerate the build-up of European hydrogen infrastructure along the AquaDuctus route.
2. The restriction to SEN-1 is a comprehensible first step — but it does not yet close the actual regulatory gap
. The draft deliberately refrains from opening all sites to offshore electrolysis and instead limits the provision to the existing other energy generation area SEN-1. As a starting point for trialling under real conditions before broader integration into network planning takes place, this restraint is comprehensible. It must not, however, be mistaken for a solution to the actual regulatory gap. AquaVentus points out that the second draft of the Network Development Plan 2037/2045 does not include offshore electrolysis in network planning "for want of a statutory mandate and regulatory framework" and describes this as a "double regulatory gap". Neither a sequencing in the Site Development Plan nor consideration of the offshore hydrogen option in the Network Development Plan is possible in this way. This gap persists for Zones 4 and 5 under the present ministerial draft — it is not closed by the restriction to SEN-1 but necessarily maintained: as long as the Act limits the connection of electrolysers exclusively to the one existing other energy generation area, the Federal Network Agency will continue to be unable to price the systemic benefit of offshore sector coupling into its modelling for the future expansion areas N-14, N-16, N-17, N-19 and N-20. This inhibits innovation and the build-up of value creation along the offshore hydrogen value chain in Germany and raises energy system costs disproportionately. An extension of offshore sector coupling to further areas and sites — in line with the technological maturity emerging from the trials on SEN-1 — cannot therefore be achieved by a continued restriction, but only by a further statutory opening. AquaVentus asks the Federal Ministry to indicate a clear regulatory pathway for this next opening step already now, so that investment decisions along the value chain are not held back by uncertainty about the timing and scope of a further site opening.
3. The 70 GW target must stand — but a purely onshore-based hydrogen strategy will be expensive
. AquaVentus expressly supports leaving the statutory expansion target of 70 GW of offshore wind by 2045 untouched. At the same time we point out that the question of where the electricity needed for hydrogen production is converted has considerable cost implications. According to the study commissioned by AquaVentus from Frontier Economics ("Reducing system costs through offshore sector coupling", November 2025), offshore sector coupling can lower system costs by up to EUR 1.7 billion per year; the E-Bridge study on connection concepts puts the savings potential of combined connection concepts compared with a purely HVDC pathway at up to EUR 31 billion. A hydrogen strategy that excludes offshore electrolysis on
principle therefore not only drives up system costs and energy prices but also slows the technological innovative capacity of the German offshore industry. AquaVentus suggests that the wind energy capacity built in future within other energy generation areas such as SEN-1 should be expressly counted towards the 70 GW expansion target under Section 1(2) of the Offshore Wind Energy Act. The wording of the target definition — "installed capacity of offshore wind turbines that are connected to the grid" — already refers today to the type of installation, not to the type of area in which it is built. An express clarification that this also applies to grid-connected offshore wind turbines within other energy generation areas would therefore be an obvious and inexpensive addition to the ministerial draft. This attribution would not only be regulatorily consistent but also the most economical route to reaching the 70 GW target: the wind capacity on SEN-1 can share the NOR-10-1 converter platform via a low-cost 66 kV connection — entirely without an additional, dedicated offshore connection system, the construction of which, according to the explanatory memorandum, costs around EUR 5 to 10 billion. Every gigawatt realised in this way thus contributes to the statutory expansion target without additionally burdening system costs and the offshore grid levy, and at the same time delivers, through the electrolysis component, its contribution to lowering overall system costs. Sector-coupled sites are therefore not a special case alongside the 70 GW pathway, but one of its most cost-efficient forms.
4. The step-by-step ramp-up needs both regulatory AND spatial planning support
. Precisely because the step-by-step technological ramp-up is the right approach, it must be consistently supported in parallel on two levels: in regulatory terms — through the further statutory opening step described in section 2 after successful trialling — and in spatial planning terms, within the ongoing update of the Site Development Plan (FEP) for Zones 4 and 5. What this spatial planning support could look like in concrete terms is shown by the new Ramboll study of August 2026: on the basis of a multi-criteria assessment (systemic benefit through avoided curtailment, wind energy yields, proximity to the AquaDuctus pipeline, service accessibility, water depth) it identifies the sites in areas N-14, N-16 and N-19 as the Zone 4/5 sites with the highest systemic and economic added value for future large-scale offshore hydrogen production — and expressly recommends a "step-by-step and selective approach" to the BSH. The study's criteria are geared to suitability for large-scale future production in Zones 4/5. For an early demonstration and pilot location such as SEN-1, other strengths count — the shortest distance to service infrastructure alongside the short distance to the AquaDuctus pipeline. SEN-1 therefore remains a sensible location for trialling and learning.
This study thus provides a concrete, evidence-based picture of the step-by-step logic that AquaVentus considers right: SEN-1 as a short-term pilot and learning location under the current, limited statutory opening — and the N-14, N-16 and N-19 sites as the most obvious candidates for a later large-scale designation of further other energy generation areas, once both the trial phase on SEN-1 has gone well and the further statutory opening necessary for this has taken place. AquaVentus asks the Federal Ministry and the BSH to prepare both levels in parallel from the outset: the BSH should mark out the spatial basis within the FEP update for Zones 4/5, while the Federal Ministry enables the further statutory opening step in regulatory terms. Only through the interplay of both levels can the step-by-step ramp-up actually be realised without letting potential for innovation and value creation go unused. For the long-term dimensioning of this pathway, AquaVentus additionally suggests a quantified statutory expansion target for offshore hydrogen generation in other energy generation areas: an installed generation and conversion capacity of at least 4 GW by 2045, with the ambition of reaching a capacity of up to 10 GW. Such an end target would give concrete shape to the step-by-step opening process described and would give the value chain along the entire offshore hydrogen chain reliable investment and planning certainty for the period after SEN-1.
Summary of the AquaVentus statement
• The ministerial draft consistently implements the coalition agreement's mandate on hybrid connection and is expressly welcomed • For lines that connect SEN-1 and at the same time transport hydrogen across borders (multifunctional hydrogen pipelines, e.g. AquaDuctus), a uniform authorisation regime should be anchored in the Offshore Wind Energy Act that leaves the substantive requirements of the Federal Mining Act for transit pipelines untouched • The restriction to SEN-1 is comprehensible as a first trialling step, but does not close the "double regulatory gap" between the Site Development Plan and the Network Development Plan — as long as it persists, the Federal Network Agency cannot model the benefit of offshore sector coupling for Zones 4/5, which inhibits innovation and value creation in Germany • An extension to further sites can only come about through a further statutory opening, not through continued restriction — AquaVentus asks for a clear regulatory pathway for this • The 70 GW expansion target must remain untouched. Wind energy capacity within other energy generation areas such as SEN-1 should be expressly counted towards the 70 GW expansion target. By sharing existing converter connections such as NOR-10-1, this is the most cost-efficient way to reach the target without requiring an additional offshore connection system (costing EUR 5–10 billion each) • The step-by-step ramp-up needs regulatory AND spatial planning support in parallel: SEN-1 as a short-term pilot and learning location, the N-14, N-16 and N-19 sites as evidence-based next candidates for a later designation — prepared jointly by the BSH (Site Development Plan) and the Federal Ministry (statutory opening) • For the period after SEN-1, AquaVentus additionally suggests a quantified expansion target: at least 4 GW of installed generation and conversion capacity for offshore hydrogen by 2045, with the ambition of up to 10 GW