- The German government advised speeding up onshore wind development.
- Germany will tender 12.84 GW of onshore wind this year and in order to allocate the entire capacity.
Wind energy group BWE said on Thursday that the German government must take action to swiftly quicken the clearance process for onshore wind projects and remove other hurdles as the number of licenses is rising insufficiently, putting the ambitious expansion objective at danger.
When compared to the intended expansion rate, permits for projects with a combined capacity of 689 MW were issued in the first three months of 2023. Germany will offer 12.84 GW of onshore wind this year, and according to BWE, projects totaling at least 10 GW must be authorized by the end of the year in order to assign the entire capacity.
Hermann Albers, president of BWE, underlined during a news conference that there is a lot of work that needs to be done, particularly with regard to the approval process, and that it is essential.
In addition to being few, the new permits are typically issued to projects in northern Germany, where the majority of the country’s installed wind capacity is located, while the south is still lagging behind. With 231.4 MW and 139.5 MW respectively of the total new permits issued this year, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony, two northern states, are once again in the lead.
Prior to the first Wind Energy Summit, which will take place on March 22 and address the issues facing the industry, the group has also proposed a number of actions.
The recommendations include suggestions for choosing more locations for wind energy, streamlining repowering procedures, accelerating approval to seven months and restricting options for an extension, raising the threshold when an environmental impact assessment is necessary, improving the design of appeal procedures, amending the Federal Nature Conservation Act so that it would be applicable by all federal states, and reevaluating the minimum distance requirement.