Offshore Wind as Part of Integrated Power Business Interview with Antoine Becker, Managing Director Offshore Wind Germany with TotalEnergies

In the following talk Antoine Becker, Managing Director Offshore Wind Germany with TotalEnergies, gives an overview of the status quo of offshore wind at Total Energies.

REH: As Total Energies, you have been awarded several contracts for German offshore wind farms - at what stage are these projects? What are your plans for the offshore sector in Germany and Europe?

Antoine Becker: "To date, TotalEnergies is the largest offshore wind developer in Germany. Our portfolio comprises 5 projects in the North and Baltic Seas with a combined net capacity of 6.5 GW and operation dates in 2031 and 2032. Currently, environmental investigations, geophysical and geotechnical campaigns as well as technical studies are being carried out at the different sites. The development of our offshore wind activities is part of TotalEnergies ongoing ambition to build a strong integrated power business in Germany and deliver low carbon and reliable power to our customers. In this respect – and beyond offshore wind - the company made significant strides in 2024 with the acquisitions of Kyon Energy, Quadra Energy and VSB (closing awaited)."

REH: You have entered into a partnership with RWE for a wind project. Is this a model for future projects?

Antoine Becker: "TotalEnergies is used to forming partnerships with leading developers, like RWE. Offshore wind is a capital-intensive business with various industrial, regulatory, and economic risks. Partnerships are key to sharing these risks while combining the strengths of each partner for project success.  For instance, our extensive experience in the safe operation of oil and gas assets will benefit our offshore wind operations in Germany. We evaluate the option of partnerships on a case-by-case basis."

REH: What do you expect from the new German government for the offshore sector?

Antoine Becker: "Germany has set the ambitious target of 70 GW of offshore capacity by 2045, a goal reiterated in the recent FEP25 (Site Development Plan). While we praise the transparency and planification made by the government for the development of offshore wind, we have also made some proposals to help turn this plan into a sustainable reality. Developers need the government to have a realistic approach on capacity and timing of the projects, including for instance an adaptation of the construction period to the size of the wind farm. They also need a reliable and efficient permitting framework, with rules adaptable to the reality of the development steps. They need a marine spatial planning that does not destroy value for the already awarded, developed and constructed sites by putting sites too close to each other or tendering sites with densities of turbines being too high. The dynamism of the German offshore industry is a strength. We want to work with the government to achieve realistic solutions to meet its targets."

REH: Which other markets worldwide are you increasingly looking at?

Antoine Becker: "TotalEnergies is building a strong integrated power business aimed at delivering low carbon electricity. Thus, we focus on markets where offshore wind can be combined with other sources of renewable and dispatchable power generation and storage, or where it can help decarbonizing our own activities. In the Netherlands for example, we are a partner in the Oranjewind wind farm. The green hydrogen we produce with the offtake from this farm helps us to decarbonize our refinery in Zeeland."

Thank you very much for the interview!

If you are eager to learn more about the strategy of TotalEnergies and Antoine Becker's point of view, please register for the Hamburg Offshore Wind Conference 2025 at the 13th of May 2025. He will be one of the panelists.

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