Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck sees good opportunities to build converter platforms in Germany. There are not only opportunities, but also the necessity, the Green politician told journalists at the Husum Wind trade fair.
Converter platforms are needed to collect wind power generated at sea and transport it to land. A converter is used, among other things, to increase the voltage in order to minimize transmission losses.
Bremerhaven and Rostock
With Bremerhaven and Rostock there are two locations where it could work and there is clear interest, said Habeck. “And the locations of the German ports that cannot directly produce the large converter stations are also partially suitable for manufacturing or supplying components.” If you do it well, you could set up a converter production line in the network of German shipyards starting from Bremerhaven and Rostock-Warnemünde, said Habeck. “We’re working day and night to make sure we get this done,” said Habeck. This is also in the security interest.
“We need the converters for offshore.” However, the market is completely oversubscribed and there is only one production location in Europe in Spain. You should not buy from non-European countries. “I wouldn’t do that with the converters. These are switching points of the energy system, and for security reasons we have a great interest in these converters being produced in Europe and ideally in Germany.”
Security concerns from the Ministry of Defense
There are ongoing discussions between the Schwerin state government and the Federal Ministry of Defense about the Rostock shipyard. While Schwerin would like to see converter platforms built there on open land, the Ministry of Defense has security concerns about the naval arsenal there.
