German wind industry group BWE has criticised federal energy minister Peter Altmaier for what it called “almost indifferent” comments on recent job cuts in the sector.
Altmaier had called the job losses “a piece of free-market economy” that “market participants have to deal with”, BWE said.
The organisation instead blamed policymakers for the current situation in the country’s wind industry and said a slowdown in the sector has already led to the loss of thousands of jobs in the supply chain.
About 5.3GW of onshore wind was added in Germany in 2017, but this year the figure will be approximately 3.5GW and 2GW in 2019 and 2020, BWE said.
“The federal government talks about ambitious renewables expansion and climate policy goals for 2030 and 2050, but at the same time puts obstacles in the industry’s way that is supposed to make a contribution towards reaching these goals,” said BWE head Hermann Albers.
In order not to lose industry expertise, Germany’s government needs to implement the additional renewables expansion announced in its coalition plan, Albers added.
The coalition pledged to support an unspecified amount of new offshore wind capacity and 4GW each of onshore wind and solar power to help the country save between 8 million and 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
“In addition to the additional volume, we need a reliable expansion path until 2030,” Albers said.
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Berlin ‘indifferent’ to wind job cuts
By EBS