The expansion of wind power in Germany is still not gaining momentum and is lagging behind targets.

In the first half of 2024, 250 new wind turbines were erected, with new capacity amounting to 929 megawatts, as announced by the German Wind Industry Association (BWE) on Thursday. The overall annual target of 8,000 megawatts is therefore no longer achievable. However, the number of approvals for wind farms is giving the industry hope following legislative changes: it rose by around a third compared to the same period last year and was therefore higher than in 2021 and 2022 as a whole. The same applies to the contracts awarded to companies for construction. They reached a record of around 4,200 megawatts, which should also be reflected in the figures for new installations in 2025.

"The positive trend must now be dynamized and stabilized beyond the election period," said BWE President Bärbel Heidebroek. Germany aims to achieve an 80 percent share of renewable energies in electricity consumption by 2030. Onshore wind energy will play the most important role in this. To achieve this, around 10,000 megawatts will have to be newly installed from 2025. The solar industry, on the other hand, has already exceeded its target with an increase of over 7500 megawatts in the first half of the year.

Onshore wind turbines with a capacity of just under 62,000 megawatts are now in operation. The target for the end of the year is 69,000 megawatts, which can no longer be achieved. The main reasons for the sluggish expansion in recent years have been long approval procedures, too few designated areas and resistance from local residents. The traffic light government has responded to this with numerous changes to the law, which are now having an effect on approvals.

(Report by Markus Wacket, edited by Elke Ahlswede. If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets).)