Germany’s wind industry body, BWE, has accused the operator of the country’s motorways of sabotaging the roll-out of wind turbines.
The government-owned company Autobahn GmbH refused the permits necessary for the transport of large wind turbine parts, which has impacted the construction of wind farms, stated BWE.
BWE chief executive Wolfram Axthelm, in an op-ed for climate and energy newsletter Tagesspiegel Background, said: “This [lack of permitting] stops the realisation of projects that have already been awarded a contract and causes standstill in the logistics chain … The otherwise good performance of the government coalition in the expansion of renewables is being sabotaged.”
About 20,000 transport permit applications are currently pending, with processing times ranging from two to 14 weeks, according to the trade group.
Autobahn GmbH heads planning, construction, maintenance and operation as well as financing of the motorways, and is overseen by the transport ministry.
In his article Axthelm said the transport ministry suggested using waterways instead, which he described as “totally unrealistic”.