Wind power | Wind year within reach

Who remembers the wind year of 2017? Back then, new onshore wind power projects had to compete for the EEG (Renewable Energy Sources Act) subsidy, the funding for electricity from renewable energy sources, in tenders for the first time. The then coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD claimed that competition would lower costs .

In reality, however, wind power expansion was stalled for years. 2017 itself, however, saw a record expansion of around 5,500 megawatts. This was due to the impending tenders. Many projects had previously been launched quickly to take advantage of the discontinued fixed feed-in tariff.

Annual expansion figures of 5,000 megawatts or more for onshore wind power have not been achieved since then. What the industry demanded back then sounds very timely: faster approvals and more sector coupling, for example, through direct market relationships between renewables and commercial and industrial sectors.

Not much has happened in terms of sector coupling since then. However, the "traffic light" government, in particular, has done a lot to accelerate the development of wind power. This is now bearing fruit. With an increase of 2,200 megawatts, the first half of 2025 was the best half year since 2017, the industry associations Bundesverband Windenergie eV (BWE) and VDMA announced on Tuesday. In the whole of 2025, 4,800 to 5,300 megawatts could be newly installed – after eight years, the 5,000 megawatt mark is once again within reach.

The outlook also remains positive: This year, an additional 7,800 megawatts were approved, more than ever before in the first half of the year, as the industry emphasizes. The approval period also fell to an average of 18 months, a fifth less than the previous year. However, the overall pace is still insufficient to meet Germany's climate targets. According to the current Renewable Energy Sources Act, 115,000 megawatts of onshore wind energy are to be installed by 2030. Currently, the figure is 65,300 megawatts.

On Tuesday, BWE President Bärbel Heidebroek noted a "gap" between actual expansion and the targets formulated in the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). To achieve the 2045 climate neutrality target, nearly 10,000 megawatts of onshore capacity would have to be added annually, she emphasized. This target now seems rather illusory, especially because the coalition government apparently wants to initiate a change of course regarding renewables. The industry is therefore skeptical about the "reality check" announced by Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) for the end of August.

"If we are not realistic about our electricity needs, we will endanger Germany as a business location."

Bärbel Heidebroek, German Wind Energy Association

As in 2017, the industry pointed to the positive effects of sector coupling on electricity demand on Tuesday. The industry wants to transform itself, and the steel industry itself says it will need more electricity for its electrification in the future, said the BWE head. Data centers and AI also need green power. "If we are not realistic about electricity demand, we endanger Germany as a business location," Heidebroek continued. Therefore, the expansion of renewable energies must be further accelerated.

Meanwhile, conflicts within the renewable energy sector are also said to be causing uncertainty. The photovoltaic and biomass sectors are awaiting EU state aid approval for the Solar Package 1 and the Biomass Package, some of which have been pending for more than a year. The EU Commission will only grant this approval if Germany finally introduces the required repayment mechanism ("clawback") for the EEG remuneration. Reportedly, the wind energy sector has long resisted this, which has caused growing discontent among the other renewable energy sectors.

Heidebroek put the brakes on the repayment mechanism on Tuesday. While the introduction of the "clawback" was legally mandated, it must be done sensibly and with discretion, and not hastily, said the BWE president. The industry must not be overly restricted. Heidebroek can envision a corresponding levy mechanism, but warned against fundamentally changing or even questioning the EEG remuneration.

Dennis Rendschmidt of the VDMA Power Systems, the energy plant manufacturers' association, fears that the upcoming repayment mechanism will cause the industry to adopt a "wait-and-see" attitude. Therefore, he said on Tuesday, there must be no 180-degree turnaround in the legal adjustments, otherwise the expansion would also be at risk of being disrupted. That would be something like a repeat of 2017.