Germany’s main power generation sources received a big boost in 2024, according to the latest industry statistics.
Regulators have approved more than 2,400 new onshore wind turbines with a total output of around 14 gigawatts, the largest ever, according to a new report from the German Wind Energy Association and power plant engineering association VDMA Power Systems.
“This is an important step in the right direction,” said VDMA Managing Director Dennis Rennschmidt. He said the government needed to “maintain this momentum” regardless of the outcome of the February 23 federal election.
But despite these positive numbers, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has made fierce opposition to Germany’s energy policy, particularly wind policy, a key part of its campaign. At the AfD’s recent party conference, chancellor candidate Alice Weidel slammed “fluctuating” renewable energy, telling German broadcaster ZDF that renewable energy is “the wind that doesn’t blow, the sun doesn’t shine. “Time” is not working, he said.
Mr. Weidel spoke at the convention and vowed to destroy all Germany’s “windmills of shame.” He called on Germany to increase its use of global-warming fossil fuels, including Russian gas, and to revive nuclear power as part of a “sustainable and serious energy mix,” but the plan has little promise. experts say it’s unrealistic.
A return to nuclear weapons is ‘not plausible’
“A return to nuclear power in Germany is neither plausible nor beneficial nor economical from the point of view of climate protection,” said Wolf Peter Schill, an energy expert at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin. He pointed out the current situation. The last three reactors shut down nearly two years ago.
“[The reactors]have already been dismantled to the point where they cannot be restarted.” Building new nuclear power plants would take too long to do anything to help meet climate goals, he said. added.
Experts say actually decommissioning all of Germany’s current 30,000-plus wind turbines would be costly in decommissioning costs, expropriation and compensation payments. And this does not take into account the cost of making up for energy shortages, as Germany would be forced to import more electricity, raising electricity prices for consumers and businesses.
Schill said that a significant increase in solar energy could help replace wind power to some extent, but in Germany, solar panels are the best alternative to wind turbines, especially during the dark winter months. He emphasized that this cannot necessarily be said.
“If you don’t want wind or solar energy, your only option is fossil fuels,” he told DW. “I don’t think Germany has any other realistic options for power generation.” Burning fossil fuels for heating, industry, etc. is the main cause of global temperature rise associated with extreme weather events around the world. It has become.
Renewable energy supplies almost two-thirds of Germany’s electricity
Despite Weidel’s claims that renewable energy is holding Germany back, the latest government figures seem to prove otherwise. Fifty-nine percent of Germany’s electricity in 2024 will come from renewables, up from 56% in 2023, according to data released in early January by the federal energy regulator Bundesnetzagentur. Slightly more than half of that was due to wind.
Germany’s Climate and Economy Minister Robert Herbeck said the growth was due to moves by the center-left SPD-Greens-FDP coalition government to “simplify and accelerate” the permitting process for wind and solar farms over the past two years. He said it was thanks to him.
Schill said the outgoing government’s decisions had laid the foundations for “stronger growth” in wind energy and could put Germany on track to reach its goal of 115 gigawatts of installed onshore wind capacity by 2030. He said that there is. The turbines are currently being built to replace old power plants and could help make up to about 80% of the country’s total energy supply renewable.
Mr Schill said it would be “ridiculous” for the next government not to take advantage of the boost given to the renewable energy sector. “The AfD’s idea of not only putting the brakes on wind power, but also eliminating it, is completely in the wrong direction.”
Wind power has an advantage in Germany
Increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity generation could help lower Germany’s energy prices, which are among the most expensive in the world. Schill said wind power plays such an important role in climate neutrality plans “precisely because it’s cheap.”
A July 2024 study by the Fraunhofer Institute, which calculated the average cost of electricity generation over the life of a power plant, showed significant differences between renewable energy and conventional power plants in Germany.
Cost of different types of solar and wind power was at the lower end of the scale and ranged from: 0.41 to 0.225 euros (0.42 to 0.23 dollars) per kilowatt hour. gas, coal, nuclear They tend to be more expensive and cost either Nuclear is the most expensive – between 0.109 and 0.49 euros per kilowatt hour.
Energy costs were also a key point in Weidel’s opposition to renewable energy. In an interview with ZDF, he emphasized the burden wind power is placing on the German economy, saying, “Due to soaring energy prices, our companies are no longer competitive.”
“As far as I know, there is no relevant future energy scenario that does not rely on a combination of (solar) and wind power,” Schill said. The renewable energy sector itself is an economic booster, as Kerstin Andreher, former Green Party lawmaker and head of the German Energy and Water Industry Association, said earlier this week.
“Wind power is not only a means of climate protection, but also contributes to economic stability by creating jobs and promoting investment,” the prime minister said in a statement on January 13. He added that it also helps secure supply during times of shortage. brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The fact that many wind turbine manufacturers are based in Germany and Europe also gives the industry an advantage, according to Schil. “Unlike other energy technologies such as solar power, which are heavily dependent on imports from China, this is not the case for wind power,” he said. “There are many benefits to wind power from a resiliency perspective.”
Editor: Tamsin Walker
