Hamburg and Cuxhaven join forces

Hamburg and Cuxhaven are connected by intensive economic cooperation within the Hamburg metropolitan region. Transforming the energy system is a major common issue because North Germany, especially the Lower Elbe region, has a special role to play. Hamburg and Cuxhaven collaborate closely on the issue of renewable energies. At a meeting on 21 February, Hamburg’s Senator for Economic Affairs, Michael Westhagemann, and Cuxhaven’s new Lord Mayor, Uwe Santjer, agreed that climate plans and the transformation of the energy system are doomed to failure unless the German Federal Government deals more ambitiously with the issues of expanding offshore wind energy and also with the issue of hydrogen. Together with Jan Rispens, Managing Director of the Renewable Energy Hamburg, both gentlemen signed a Memorandum of Understanding. This agreement provides for the opening of a cluster office in Cuxhaven in addition to further close collaboration.

Senator Westhagemann: “Our cooperation in these important and future-relevant topics has great potential for the entire region. We need to tackle the existing obstacles urgently and quickly, especially the inadequate energy law framework and the stagnating expansion of renewable energies.

Lord Mayor Santjer: “Cuxhaven is the ideal landing point for hydrogen production with regard to supply and logistics for offshore wind-to-hydrogen production. It is an established offshore wind power location, is home to the German Offshore Industry Centre and has a corresponding history of projects related to the construction of numerous offshore wind power plants in the German Bight. I believe that we are sending out a positive signal to the entire region by signing this cooperation agreement and thanks to the physical presence of Renewable Energy Hamburg in Cuxhaven.”

During their meeting in Hamburg on 21 February 2020, seven years after the first Cuxhaven Appeal for offshore wind energy, Westhagemann and Santjer once again showed strong support for the development of renewable energies.

Details of their five most important demands:

• Rapid legal implementation of raising the expansion target for offshore wind energy from 15 GW to 20 GW by 2030
• Fixing the offshore wind energy expansion target for 2035 at 30 GW
• Substantial reduction of the state-regulated price components of green electricity by the end of 2020 to facilitate sector coupling in the near future
• Expansion trajectory for all renewable energies up to 2030 to be firmly established in the first half of 2020
• Rapid action to get the collapsed expansion of onshore wind energy back up to speed and suspension of distance regulations for wind farms