Frankfurt — Installation of new German onshore wind turbines fell sharply in 2018, industry groups said on Tuesday.
They said there was little prospect of a recovery without government help.
Wind power is one of the most important drivers of Germany’s transition to renewable energy, accounting for nearly 30% of total power generation sent to public grids in 2018, according to Fraunhofer Institute research.
But the rapid expansion in onshore wind energy from 2013 to 2017 came to a halt last year due to red tape, opposition from local communities, and uncertainty among operators after the government abandoned 20-year fixed payments for new projects in favour of an auction system.
Germany installed 2,402MW worth of onshore wind turbines in 2018, down 55% from 2017, said engineering group VDMA and wind energy association BWE. The groups had expected 3,300MW of extra capacity.
“The stop and go must end,” said Matthias Zelinger, MD at VDMA Power Systems, of government policy towards wind power.
“A sustained and faster expansion of renewables would be logical, given that costs have been reduced and a plan to go without brown and hard coal-to-power generation has just been announced.”
Zelinger said Germany risked falling behind EU rivals and overseas competitors in the battle to lead the global wind industry. VDMA represents companies such as Siemens Gamesa , Nordex and Senvion.
Wind had become all the more important as Germany wanted to produce 65% of its power from renewable sources by 2030, Zelinger said.
At the weekend, a government-appointed commission recommended halving of coal plant capacity by that date as well as faster renewables growth, among a raft of related measures to meet that target and exit coal fully by 2038.
The wind industry may start recovering from 2021. German MPs approved special 8,000MW tenders two months ago for wind and solar energy plus unspecified offshore-wind energy from 2019 to 2021, on top of regular tenders.
This legislation is to compensate for the governing coalition’s move to shelve strict emissions targets for 2020 and push for more aggressive ones by 2030.
Reuters
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