This is also due to the German bidding system: If new areas at sea are put out to tender, the bidder who calculates their construction costs the lowest and their electricity revenues the most optimistically gets the chance. In times of rising capital, personnel and, above all, material costs, this is a risky procedure: While construction costs are rising quickly, especially because of the scarcity of materials, and banks have tended to increase interest rates since the respective tenders, many business plans are likely to be too high electricity revenues run out.
Also read: The largest wind power factories in the world are being built a few kilometers behind the German border
Since peak prices after Russia’s attack on Ukraine in the first quarter of 2022, wholesale electricity prices have fallen dramatically across Europe; particularly strong in Germany, among others. Offshore wind energy achieved a monthly average of just 8.19 cents per kWh in 2023; in 2022 the average was more than twice as much at 18.35 cents.