An alliance of renewables groups have called on the German political parties to make wind energy a top priority again ahead of next month’s election.
WindEurope, the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) and VDMA Power Systems have all demanded that those vying for power acknowledge the central role of the sector and remove the existing obstacles to wind energy expansion.
Political parties must make climate protection and the transition to renewable energies central to the next four years. The accelerated expansion of wind energy is imperative for climate protection and beneficial to Germany’s economy, argue the industry associations.
On 26 September Germany will elect a new Parliament. The election will mark the end of the 16-year reign of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU).
Onshore wind energy is currently “treading water”, said the association even though Germany needs to install 5-6 GW of new onshore wind capacity each year to deliver on its national and European climate commitments.
The main problem is the lack of new sites for wind farms and a significant decline in permits for new projects, they said.
Complex approval procedures, red tape and delays in the awarding of permits led to a decline of over 60% in the number of permits issued after 2016. Legal uncertainties don’t help either – they mean that even those projects that get a permit are then challenged in court, added the groups.
Giles Dickson, WindEurope CEO, said: “Whatever the election result, the next German government needs to give wind energy top priority again. The EU wants wind to be half of Europe’s electricity by 2050. That requires a massive expansion of onshore and offshore wind.
“This is great for Germany, given the strength of the German wind industry. And it’s great for other industries in Germany too – so many companies in chemicals, steel and automotive now want to decarbonise with renewable electricity and renewable hydrogen and are telling us they want more wind farms. It just needs urgent action to simplify the permitting of new wind farms and the repowering of existing ones.”
He added: “A new government is a perfect moment to do that.”