he Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) is working hard to achieve the goal of 70 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045. To this end, the BSH launched a multi-year measurement campaign in mid-December with the German Weather Service (DWD) and the commissioned company Fugro Norway. The goal: to record wind and sea conditions in an area about 280 kilometers off the German North Sea coast. The meteorological and oceanographic data collected should provide valuable insights into the investigation and evaluation of future wind farm areas on the edge of the German exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“With the ‘MeteOR’ campaign, the BSH is identifying crucial foundations for the efficient development of offshore wind farms in offshore areas of the German North Sea and is thus making a significant contribution to the energy transition,” says BSH President Helge Heegewaldt.

Background: The Offshore Wind Energy Act sets the expansion targets: By 2045, at least 70 gigawatts of power should be available from offshore wind farms. To achieve this, additional wind farms must be built up to 350 kilometers off the German North Sea coast. In these offshore areas, however, there is a lack of data on the prevailing wind and sea conditions, which are essential for researching the planned wind farm areas and for planning new projects.

Measurements from the seabed to a height of 250 meters

To close this gap, the BSH has launched the multi-year measurement campaign “Meteorological and Oceanographic Reference Measurements” (MeteOR) with the German Weather Service (DWD). The company commissioned to do this, Fugro Norway, has been collecting comprehensive wind and ocean data to the highest quality standards in a previously barely explored North Sea region since mid-December 2024.

For the campaign, which is planned to last at least three years, Fugro Norway has installed two SEAWATCH® measuring buoys in the target area and anchored two measuring systems on the seabed. The devices installed on the seabed and in the measuring buoys record oceanographic data such as sea state, ocean current, temperature, salinity, pressure and oxygen content. The measuring buoys are also equipped with a LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) system that uses laser beams to measure wind speeds at heights of up to 250 meters – the typical height range of modern offshore wind turbines.

Impressive data was recorded during the first storms that swept across the North Sea shortly after the systems were installed. “Wind speeds of more than 90 kilometers per hour at a height of 160 meters and maximum wave heights of up to 11 meters were measured,” says Thomas Möller, head of the Maritime Climate Monitoring Department at the DWD, fascinated.

Crucial data for future offshore expansion

The first measurement results show how dynamic and challenging the conditions are in the new offshore areas. “These data are indispensable for the assessment of the meteorological and oceanographic conditions in the preliminary area investigation and provide crucial insights for further planning for the expansion of offshore wind energy in Germany,” emphasizes Dr. Johannes Hahn, technical coordinator of the meteorological and oceanographic preliminary investigation at the BSH. In this context, the measured data also provide an important reference for the evaluation and further development of various meteorological and oceanographic models for simulating wind, waves and currents.