Germany installed only 235 new onshore wind turbines in first half of 2022

German wind power expansion is declining despite government efforts to increase capacity, according to figures from the Fachagentur Windenergie an Land (FA Wind) as seen by business daily Handelsblatt. Only 235 new turbines were installed in Germany in the first six months of 2022, and the number of permits approved was down 15 percent from 2021. To reach the government's new target of an 80 percent renewable electricity share by 2030, between 1,500 and 2,000 turbines would need to be built each year, writes Handelsblatt. This figure is large but not impossible – 1,500 were built annually between 2014 and 2017. However, factors such as a lack of suitable land, strict distance regulations and multiple lawsuits have caused the pace to drop. "If we do not clear the remaining blockades promptly, we are not only in danger of failing our climate action goals, but also the attempt to free ourselves from the shackles of fossil and nuclear energy dependence," expert Jürgen Quentin of FA Wind.

Germany’s government has changed legislation with the aim to “unleash” renewables expansion to help reach new wind and solar development targets. The changes pave the way for using two percent of the country’s surface area for onshore wind power generation and cutting down wind park planning procedure times by creating new, uniform standards for species protection.