Germany Needs To Significantly Speed Up Wind Power Installations

Even the 62-percent yearly jump in wind capacity installations in Germany in the first half of 2021 is not enough to meet the national and EU level of wind additions, wind power association BWE and VDMA engineering association said on Tuesday.

During the first half of 2021, Germany installed 971 megawatts (MW) of wind capacity, a surge of 62 percent compared to the same period of 2020. Despite the strong growth and evidence that wind power installations are back on track after the pandemic, Germany needs a lot more capacity additions if it wants to meet its renewable energy targets and national and EU goals of emissions reductions, the associations said.  

Germany’s target is to install just below 4,000 MW wind capacity every year under a 2021 renewables act.  

Europe’s biggest economy needs to significantly speed up the permitting and approval processes if it wants to get on track to meeting its own wind capacity and carbon reduction targets, the associations said.

The European Union (EU) is not permitting fast enough new wind power projects to meet its ambitious climate goals, the WindEurope industry association says, deploring red tape and complex procedures for getting more renewable energy projects up and running.

WindEurope estimates that annual wind installations will stand at 15 GW per year between 2021 and 2025. However, the EU needs 27 GW annually if it wants to meet the new 55-percent emission reduction target, the association said.

“The barrier to the expansion of wind energy needed for the Green Deal is not technology. Nor cost. Nor financing. It’s permitting. Europe is simply not permitting enough new wind farms to reach its renewable energy targets. The rules and procedures are too complex,” said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson.

“It’ll be nice to have a higher renewables target, but it’ll be academic if we don’t tackle permitting,” Dickson added.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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