50Hertz Sees Offshore Wind Output Rise by Ten Percent While Preparing Major Baltic Sea Expansion Projects

Through the 50Hertz grid connection systems Baltic 1 and 2 as well as Ostwind 1 and 2, millions of households are supplied with green electricity. Photo: 50Hertz

(IN BRIEF) 50Hertz reported that its Baltic Sea offshore grid connection systems transmitted around 5,400 GWh of electricity in 2025, roughly ten percent more than the previous year despite weak wind conditions, driven mainly by the full integration of the Baltic Eagle and Arcadis Ost 1 wind farms off Rügen CEO Stefan Kapferer stressed the growing strategic importance of the Baltic Sea for Germany’s security of supply and climate protection, highlighting upcoming projects such as Iberdrola’s Windanker wind farm, the Skyborn Renewables-developed Gennaker wind farm, and the pioneering Bornholm Energy Island HVDC interconnector with Energinet while offshore generation rose, onshore wind output in the 50Hertz grid area fell to 33,800 GWh in 2025 due to milder winds even as new turbines were added.

(PRESS RELEASE) BERLIN, 9-Feb-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — 50Hertz has reported that its offshore grid connection systems in the Baltic Sea fed approximately 5,400 gigawatt-hours of electricity into the eastern German extra-high-voltage grid in 2025, representing an increase of around ten percent compared with the previous year despite comparatively weak wind conditions. According to the transmission system operator, the electricity generated by the six currently operational offshore wind farms connected to its network was sufficient to cover the annual power consumption of Leipzig and its surrounding region.

The higher offshore feed-in is largely attributable to the continued expansion of wind capacity off the coast of the island of Rügen. Since 2024, the Baltic Eagle wind farm, with an installed capacity of around 450 megawatts, has been operating at full output and delivering its electricity via the Ostwind 2 grid connection system. This followed the commissioning of the Arcadis Ost 1 wind farm, which has a capacity of approximately 250 megawatts. Offshore wind production connected to the 50Hertz grid reached 4,300 GWh in 2023, rose to 4,900 GWh in 2024, and increased further to the new level recorded in 2025.

Stefan Kapferer, Chief Executive Officer of 50Hertz, emphasized that the Baltic Sea is playing an increasingly central role in Germany’s energy transition, not only for climate protection but also for ensuring a secure and reliable electricity supply. He highlighted that this trend is set to continue, with several major offshore projects scheduled to come online in the coming years. Iberdrola’s Windanker wind farm is expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2026, while the Gennaker wind farm, developed by Skyborn Renewables and set to become the largest offshore installation in the Baltic Sea to date, is planned for operation in 2028.

Kapferer also pointed to the Bornholm Energy Island project, which 50Hertz is developing in cooperation with the Danish transmission system operator Energinet. This initiative will provide access to offshore wind resources beyond German territorial waters and will include the construction of a hybrid high-voltage direct current interconnector, making it the world’s first project of its kind to combine cross-border electricity transmission with offshore wind integration.

While offshore generation increased, electricity production from onshore wind turbines within the 50Hertz grid area declined by around 2,000 GWh to a total of 33,800 GWh in 2025. The company attributed this reduction solely to unfavorable weather conditions, noting that additional onshore wind capacity was connected to the grid during the year. 50Hertz emphasized that wind power output fluctuates significantly depending on meteorological conditions, pointing out that 2023 had been the strongest wind year in more than two decades, while 2024 had aligned more closely with long-term averages.

About 50Hertz

50Hertz operates the electricity transmission system in the north and east of Germany, which it expands as needed for the energy transition. Our extra high voltage grid has an electrical circuit length of more than 10,000 kilometres, or the distance between Berlin and Rio de Janeiro. The 50Hertz control area covers Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, as well as the city states of Berlin and Hamburg. Within these regions, 50Hertz and its more than 2.500 employees ensure that 18 million people are supplied with electricity around the clock. 50Hertz is a forerunner in the field of secure integration of renewable energy. In our grid area, we want to integrate 100 percent renewable energies securely into the grid and system by 2032 – calculated over the year. In this way, we supply affordable energy for a strong economy. The shareholders of 50Hertz are the Belgian holding Elia Group (80 percent), which is listed on the stock exchange, and the KfW bank group with 20 percent. As a European TSO, 50Hertz is a member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E).

Press officer | Volker Gustedt | T +49 30 5150 2878 | M +49 151 5537 7634 | volker.gustedt@50hertz.com

SOURCE: 50Hertz