Germany’s Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) has opened a second amendment procedure for the 2025 Offshore Site Development Plan, proposing changes to North Sea offshore wind sites, auction timing and grid connection routes.
The draft amendment, published on 19 June, covers sites N-10.1 and N-10.2, which were tendered in 2025 but did not attract bids. It also includes revised auction and commissioning schedules for several areas, boundary changes for N-12.5 and N-12.6, and adjustments to the NOR-10-1 offshore grid connection route.
The changes also relate to N-12.4 and N-12.5, where auctions were suspended earlier this year, as well as N-6.8 and N-12.6 and their grid connection systems.
BSH said the process is limited to the listed amendments and is being carried out under a streamlined procedure in Germany’s Offshore Wind Energy Act. Authorities and the public can comment until 20 July.
The agency has published a draft amendment and an environmental screening document. Its initial assessment found that an additional Strategic Environmental Assessment is unlikely to be needed beyond the assessment already completed for the 2025 plan.
The German Offshore Wind Energy Association welcomed the draft, saying it reflects industry demands for better site design and stronger project economics.
The association said the changes would place more focus on actual electricity generation by reducing capacity densities and revising layouts to limit wake effects between turbines.
Managing Director Stefan Thimm said closer alignment between site planning and real electricity output sends an important signal for the sector.
For N-10.1 and N-10.2, the draft presents three alternative configurations intended to improve commercial viability before a planned re-tender in 2027.
The amendment currently envisages 4 GW of offshore wind capacity for auction in 2027. This includes 2.5 GW across N-10.1 and N-10.2, and 1.5 GW across N-13.1 and N-13.2.
However, the draft does not set a new auction date for N-12.4 and N-12.5, whose planned 2026 tender was suspended. BSH said the future auction timing for those sites will be decided later.
The German Offshore Wind Energy Association also repeated its call for changes to Germany’s Offshore Wind Energy Act, including an indexed, two-sided CfD-only model and a legal mechanism allowing uneconomic projects from the 2023 to 2025 tender years to be voluntarily withdrawn and quickly re-tendered.
Thimm said those measures are needed to keep the offshore wind project pipeline reliable and give the supply chain planning certainty for investment.
BSH is expected to finalise the amendment after consultation and coordination with the Federal Network Agency and other relevant authorities.
