Overall expansion is increasing again
Southern federal states with wind power a “de facto failure”
4/9/2023 4:42 am
Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have long been criticized because, despite their size, hardly any wind turbines are connected to the grid in the federal states. While expansion in Germany is gaining momentum overall, the south seems to be lagging behind.
From the point of view of the industry, an end to the slack in the expansion of onshore wind turbines is in sight. More new wind turbines were connected to the grid in the first three months of the year. The number of wind turbines that were newly approved grew significantly compared to the same quarter of the previous year. This was the result of a preliminary evaluation by the Onshore Wind Energy Agency, which was available to the German Press Agency. However, the German Wind Energy Association criticized a “de facto failure” in the southern region. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg lagged behind when it came to expansion. According to the Economics Ministry, only 24 out of a total of 505 wind turbines nationwide were newly built in 2022 in the two southern countries.
Last year, the federal government decided on extensive measures to accelerate the expansion of renewable energies. This plays a key role in achieving Germany’s climate protection goals and becoming less dependent on fossil fuels such as coal and gas. Wind turbines on land are often controversial locally, and residents keep taking action against them.
At the end of 2022, the Federal Network Agency recorded an increase of only 264 onshore wind turbines compared to the previous year, while the grand coalition added 274 turbines last year. In the years 2016 and 2017, the stock had grown by more than 1300 wind turbines on land every year, in 2018 by 726 systems. According to information from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, there were around 29,000 wind turbines on land and around 1,500 offshore wind turbines in Germany at the end of 2022.