Wind power expansion could come to a halt in Bavaria

The expansion of wind power in Germany’s southern state Bavaria could soon fall close to zero, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. According to the German Wind Energy Association (BWE), there have been just four applications for construction of new wind power installations in the state in the first 11 months of 2017, compared to 400 in 2013, the article says. “Bavaria makes itself increasingly dependent on energy imports and soon also on power imports,” regional BWE head Raimund Kamm says. He argues the economic powerhouse state could cover about one third of its power consumption by installing wind power turbines on two percent of its land area. The BWE says that the state’s 10H-rule, stipulating a minimum distance for turbines from the nearest residential building at least ten times its height, would practically stop any further expansion. 
In a commentary for regional newspaper Bayerische Staatszeitung, Ralph Schweinfurth writes the state should abandon the 10H-rule and let wind power unfold its full potential in the state. “Bavaria quickly has to come with a solution since block B of the nuclear plant Gundremmingen has been taken off the grid at the beginning of 2018. This takes away 1,344 megawatt of production capacity,” a situation set to worsen  once the plant’s block C is retired in 2021.

Read the article in German here and the commentary in German here.

Find plenty of background in the dossier Onshore Wind Power in Germany.