Which hurdles threaten to fail the rapid expansion

Berlin The expansion of wind energy on land could be significantly slowed down in the coming years because there is a lack of available space. From the point of view of the wind power industry, the main reason is that the federal states are only hesitant to identify additional areas. “The federal states must clearly step up the pace,” says Wolfram Axthelm, Managing Director of the German Wind Energy Association (BWE).

With the Wind Energy Area Requirements Act (WindBG), the legislator has given the federal states the task of tendering a total of two percent of Germany’s area for wind energy use by the end of 2032. For 2027, the law sets an interim target of 1.4 percent. According to the federal government, 0.8 percent of the state area has been designated for wind turbines nationwide.

The WindBG passed in July last year does not prescribe a flat rate of two percent for each state, but differentiates: 0.5 percent is sufficient for the city states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen, while non-city states such as Lower Saxony, Brandenburg or Hesse must report 2.2 percent area, in Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg it is 1.8 percent.