Criticism of the wind energy industry: “total failure” in the south

The north-south divide in the expansion of wind power in Germany increased further at the beginning of the year. Since the beginning of January, not a single new plant has been approved in several federal states.

At the start of the year, the expansion of wind energy is only progressing slowly from the point of view of the industry. The status of the new permits is “a sign of inadequacy for the south of Germany,” said the President of the German Wind Energy Association, Hermann Albers, to the dpa news agency.

Since the beginning of January there has not been a single newly approved facility in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony and Saarland. In Hesse there is only one permit. This is nothing less than a “total failure”. Above all, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Saxony should finally act.

Is Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania missing a “historic opportunity”?

According to the specialist agency for onshore wind energy, 51 new turbines have been approved nationwide since January 6th. Among them were 19 in Saxony-Anhalt, eleven in Schleswig-Holstein, eight in North Rhine-Westphalia, five in Lower Saxony, four in Thuringia, three in Brandenburg and one in Hesse. Association President Albers warned: “The federal states must finally act now, otherwise they willingly put their industry at risk.”

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, too, there was still no new approval in 2023. As a coastal country, it faces the historic opportunity to benefit from an upcoming hydrogen boom. “The country should not miss this opportunity.”

Energy transition with increasing electricity demand?

More green electricity plays a central role in achieving climate protection goals and becoming less dependent on fossil fuels. The Federal Government expects an increasing demand for electricity in the coming years. “From 550 terawatt hours today, we expect an increase due to e-mobility and heat pumps, above all up to 700/750 terawatt hours in 2030, and that can easily be 1000 terawatt hours in 2045,” said Economics Minister Robert Habeck recently.

The share of renewable energies should increase to 80 percent by then. The federal government has therefore decided on comprehensive measures for faster expansion. This includes a legal obligation to ensure that countries provide more land. The number of wind turbines connected to the grid is expected to increase massively in the coming years. Some experts have criticized the federal government’s targets as being too optimistic.

North-South gradient in the expansion of wind power

So far, however, the energy transition has primarily looked like this: while in the south it is mainly conventional nuclear and lignite power plants that are being taken off the grid, wind power capacities are being expanded in the north. In the past year alone, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia accounted for 77 percent of the new construction according to industry information.

The south is thus becoming more dependent on electricity supplies from the north, while at the same time the fear of a blackout is growing among parts of the population in the southern federal states.

Defenders of the low abundance of wind energy in the south, meanwhile, point out that wind power production is significantly less efficient in the south than in the north. According to the Wind Atlas Germany, the wind speed on the Lower Saxony North Sea coast is almost twice as high as in the Bavarian Forest.