“Windy invitations”

Successful citizens’ energy projects in Germany’s first onshore wind power auction still have to prove that they can live up to their name, Bernward Janzing writes in the Tageszeitung (taz). While 93 percent of successful bidders in the auction were identified as citizens’ projects, “a closer look” raises the question as to whether the projects actually match their label, he writes. According to the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), the eased requirements for citizens’ projects in the auction “might encourage all market actors to label their projects as citizen co-operatives,” Janzing says. Employees of large project developers were engaged in many citizens’ projects, Janzing argues, fuelling speculation that these projects ultimately might end up in the larger players’ portfolios. The BWE therefore suggests legally ensuring that citizens’ projects cannot change ownership for five years.

Read the article in German here.

For background, see the CLEW article Citizens’ energy projects dominate first onshore wind power auction and the CLEW factsheet High hopes and concerns over onshore wind power auctions.