Germany’s government is in talks to increase support for mid- sized grid operators including Tennet TSO GmbH that are commissioning connections, Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen said in Berlin today. He said the aim is “to strengthen the capital market, possibly with the help of the state owned KfW” the state owned because the grid companies don’t have the scale to finance multi-billion- dollar projects alone.

This would mean a possible expansion of the 5 billion euro ($6.6 billion) program by state-owned KfW Group to boost lending to the offshore wind industry, part of an effort to combat delays in connecting turbines to the power grid.

KfW said its talks with the government could result in opening the fund for grid projects by boosting its value or using the existing amount, according to Wolfram Schweickhardt, a spokesman for the bank. “While no decision has been made, nothing is being ruled out,” he said.

Roettgen said the government is considering “possibly expanding the 5 billion-euro program,” opened by the KfW last year. He didn’t specify whether this meant increasing the fund’s size or whether it would be opened to cover grid projects, which currently aren’t covered. The government will make a decision this summer.

Germany seeks to have 25 gigawatts of turbines in its waters by 2030, up from about 0.2 gigawatts at the end of last year. The grid delays have been a setback for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plan to shift to a nuclear-free energy mix based on 80 percent renewable sources by 2050.

Siemens AG (SIE) today cut its annual profit forecast for the third time in five years after it booked 481 million euros in extra costs this year from delays in hooking up marine wind farms to the grid. EON AG and RWE AG (RWE), the country’s biggest utilities, have threatened to halt investment in wind projects until obstacles are removed.