EU approves support to 20 offshore wind farms in Germany

The European Union (EU) found that German plans to support the building of 20 offshore wind farms were in line with EU state aid rules, said the European Commission on Thursday.

Seventeen wind farms would be located in the North Sea and the other three in the Baltic Sea, according to a press release by the Commission.

The Commission assessed the projects under its guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy that entered into force in July 2014, and concluded that the project would further EU energy and environmental objectives without unduly distorting competition in the single market.

Germany notified plans to support the construction and operation of several offshore wind farms in October 2014. Aid would be granted to operators in the form of a premium paid on top of the market price for electricity. All wind farms planned to start producing electricity by the end of 2019 at the latest.

In total, they are expected to generate 28 terawatt-hours of renewable electricity per year, amounting to almost 13 percent of Germany's 2020 scenario for renewable energy given in the National Renewable Energy Action Plan.