15th Offshore Wind Business Forum on Sylt

The industry gathering for the offshore wind sector since 2012—and once again, ahead of an amendment to the WindSeeG—will take place from August 27 to August 28, 2026, in Wenningstedt on Sylt.

Under the motto “Less CO₂—More Time for Networking,” I look forward to exciting presentations and discussions. There should be no shortage of thought-provoking insights from the draft of the so-called “Act on the Optimization and Safeguarding of Offshore Wind Energy Expansion” that will be presented.

Finally, the draft amendment includes provisions on carbon footprints and resilience tenders, which—driven by the European Commission and anchored in the Net Zero Industry Act—have now found their way into offshore wind power tenders. – Unfortunately, this has so far only applied to some of the tenders—there’s room for improvement: this should also apply to areas not subject to a central preliminary assessment.

The lack of a call for proposals in 2026 should be offset by an additional call for proposals at the beginning of 2027, so as not to place a progressive burden on the value chain.

The annual tender range starting in 2027 should generally fall between 4,000 and 6,000 megawatts and should not be reviewed until the interim target of at least 40 gigawatts (scheduled to be reached by 2035) has been achieved.

Cross-border cooperation projects should under no circumstances be counted toward the planned 70 gigawatts.

The updates to the land-use development plan to date do not indicate that the BSH has significantly increased the attractiveness of these areas. It is encouraging that this is set to change with the new WindSeeG.

Another welcome development is the introduction of an enhanced framework for competitiveness and innovation, particularly with regard to hydrogen. Rapid scaling is crucial in this regard.

However, many issues are not yet adequately addressed in the current draft. I am counting on the European Commission and the Nordic countries. I look forward to exchanging ideas with some of the approximately 120 offshore wind representatives from the business, scientific, and political communities.

For many years now, I have looked forward every year to this two-day conference, which focuses exclusively on offshore wind.

I’m really looking forward to the high-profile panel discussion: “Is Europe Ready for the Next Offshore Wave?”, which features a fantastic lineup of impressive women from the offshore wind industry.