“Strong onshore wind expansion during transition, clear risks in 2018/19”

Germany saw strong onshore wind power expansion in the first half of 2017, but development could severely slow after the transition phase from set feed-in tariffs to auction-based remuneration by 2019, said German Wind Energy Association (BWE) and industry association VDMA Power Systems at a press conference in Berlin. Auctions, which started in 2017, limited annual expansion and – at the moment – gave citizens’ energy projects the possibility to enter even without the permit to build the turbines at the planned location. This meant the manufacturers lacked the planning security, after the transition period ends. Andreas von Bobart, deputy chairman of VDMA Power Systems, said that “2019 will be the year of truth”. Until then, the industry could plan with more than 6,500 MW which had already been approved by the end of 2016.
In the first half of 2017, 790 wind turbines with a total capacity of 2,281 megawatt (MW) were added in Germany, an increase of 11 percent compared to expansion in the same period last year. By 30 June 2017, a total of 27,914 wind power facilities with a total capacity of 48,024 MW were in operation in Germany. For the whole year 2017, BWE and VDMA expect additional 5,000 MW of wind power capacity.

Find the press release in German here.

For background, read the CLEW dossier Onshore Wind Power in Germany.