energy
Expansion of wind power is not gaining momentum: Turbo needed
The wind energy industry needs an “acceleration turbo”. Photo: Jens Büttner/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Wind turbines are few and far between – at least there was a lack of newcomers in the first quarter. The expansion of wind turbines in Germany is faltering and needs to be accelerated – but how?
The expansion of onshore wind power in Germany is not gaining momentum. As the German Wind Energy Association announced on Friday, 99 wind turbines with a total capacity of 407 megawatts were connected to the grid in the first quarter – 23 percent less than in the same quarter of the previous year.
Because old systems were also shut down, the net increase in installed capacity was 355 megawatts, according to figures from the Wind Energy Agency. The industry called for an “acceleration turbo”.
The front runners were North Rhine-Westphalia with 26 new wind turbines and Schleswig-Holstein with 25. In the state of Bavaria, which is the largest in terms of area and has the strictest rules nationwide on the distance between wind turbines and residential buildings, no new wind turbines were connected to the grid.
As early as mid-April, it was said, citing preliminary figures, that the expansion of onshore wind power had faltered in the first three months.
Distance regulations must be cleared
Hermann Albers, President of the German Wind Energy Association, called on Friday for existing, blanket distance regulations to be cleared. The protection of citizens in the immediate vicinity of wind turbines is already given by extensive regulations in the Federal Immission Control Act.
In Bavaria, the controversial 10H distance rule applies to wind turbines. So far, it provides for ten times the distance between the height of the wind turbine and the next building. The state government had announced that the rule should be relaxed.
The federal government wants to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies with a comprehensive package of measures. Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to achieve that two percent of the land area in Germany will be designated for wind energy in the future – this has not been achieved in most countries by a long shot.