German wind power curtailment areas do not match actual needs - grid operators

The regions singled out by the government to slow wind power expansion because of lacking grid capacities do not match the areas where a curtailment is needed most, according to grid operators, Julian Olk writes for Handelsblatt. For instance, the entire state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has been labelled as an area of limited expansion and only half of neighbouring Lower Saxony, even though curtailments are more common there. Critics say the current areas were partly determined by local politicians' interests, a reproach the BNetzA rejects, according to the article.

The successful expansion of wind power in Germany to a large extent now hinges on the parallel expansion of the power grid, which is needed to transport high electricity volumes generated by wind turbines in the North to industrial centres in the South. Observers urge the development of power-to-x technologies, storage and other options to use wind power in other economic sectors to ensure capacity does not lay idle.