In a study, the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) calculated that around 1,200 new wind turbines could be installed in Bavaria by 2030. Another 1,800 systems could follow by 2040. With these 3,000 additional wind turbines, around 30 percent of Bavaria’s electricity requirements of 120 billion kilowatt hours per year could then be covered.
The study is a massive criticism of Bavaria’s energy policy. “The 500 new wind turbines mentioned by Prime Minister Markus Söder correspond neither to Bavaria’s potential nor to the challenges of achieving climate neutrality and security of supply,” said the Bavarian BWE boss Bernd Wust.
From the point of view of the BWE, the enormous additional demand for electrical energy for electricity, heat and transport can only be met through the rapid expansion of wind and solar power. Like many experts, the industry association sees the potential of biomass and hydropower as largely exhausted.
In order for the additional wind turbines to be built quickly, the controversial 10H distance rule would have to be lifted. The two percent target set by the federal government should take its place. According to this, each federal state should reserve two percent of the state area for wind power. In addition, planning and approval procedures would have to be accelerated.
Wust accused Söder of the lack of a “viable Bavarian energy concept for the necessary transformation from fossil to renewable energies”. The blockade of wind energy and the glorification of Bavaria as a sunny country offer no perspective. The war in the Ukraine drastically showed how dependent Bavaria was on Russian gas and oil.
A lost decade for the energy transition
The State Association for Renewable Energies (LEE) categorically rejects the postponement of the nuclear phase-out demanded by Söder. “Nuclear, natural gas, oil and coal are harmful to the environment, are becoming more expensive and make us dependent on despotically governed countries,” said LEE boss Raimund Kamm. “The last decade was a lost decade for the energy transition in Bavaria.”
Söder himself spoke out on Wednesday against a boycott of Russian gas and repeated his intention to make Bavaria independent of energy imports from Russia in the long term. In order to bridge the time, after a meeting with business representatives, he again campaigned for the lifetime of the nuclear power plants still in operation to be extended beyond 2022. In addition, the state government wants to “improve massively” the state in renewable energies, said Söder. In addition to photovoltaics and hydropower, this also includes wind energy.
Here, however, Söder stuck to the goal that he formulated in summer 2021: 500 new systems. On Wednesday he spoke of “XXL wind turbines”. According to Söder, plans are currently underway to achieve “fair distribution” in Bavaria. There will be exceptions to the 10-H rule in forests or priority areas.
Söder sticks to the rule itself, as does Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters). In contrast to photovoltaics and wind power, however, Aiwanger also sees “not much” potential in hydropower. Ludwig Hartmann, parliamentary group leader of the Green Party, once again criticized the state government’s energy policy. “Individual initiatives at state level and innovative ideas remain in short supply,” he said.