Cars and trucks ride a rural road in stormy weather.
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2024 was a strong year for Aeolian Energy in Germany, with permissions to accelerate on land of wind turbines, according to the industry data – but the next election on February 23 means that the sector is now facing uncertainty, in the midst of vocal skepticism from the two parties leading to polls.
Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who is polling station In the first place with about 30% of support, together with the associated party, CSU described the wind farm as a “transitional technology”. In an interview with a public emitter ZDF At the end of last year, he said that he hoped that “ugly” wind turbines could eventually be dismantled “because they did not fit into the landscape.”
Extremely right alternative Fuer Deutschland, which is second in national polling stations And it was expected to provide about 20% of the vote, he took the rhetoric even more. Party Cancer Candidate Alice Weidel threatened to tear down all windmills, which she is allegedly marked as “shame windmills.” AFD has questioned climate change and has often rejected the actions taken to fight the ecological crisis.
The power of the wind, the form of renewable energy sources used to produce electricity, is considered important in fossil fuel transition.
Wolf-Peter Schill, an energy economist at the German Institute of Economic Research (Diw Berlin), said some of the “wind farm” during the election campaign were sometimes “absurd”, especially from AFD.
“AFD is a nightmare in many aspects – also in terms of their wind farm, but I don’t think it’s super relevant because they won’t be in power,” Schill told CNBC over video call.
Despite the survey in second place, all other main parties in Germany have so far undertaken not to enter the coalition government with them, which means that they will probably be part of the opposition after the election.
“What the CDU, the conservative party, makes it much more relevant, at least for the next government,” Schill noted.
German winding of winds of wind
Schill cited recently report From the German Foundation for the Energy and Engineering Association of VDMA Power Systems, who said that the country had reached a historic turning point for the gust of wind in 2024.
The largest European economy licensed more than 2400 rhythmic windmills last year, according to a report, which is a combined capacity of more than 14 gigavate. The contracts assigned to land windmills also grew to a record high, he added.
Dennis Rndschmidt, VDMA Power Systems CEO, told CNBC that record data emphasized the effectiveness of legal changes and political measures carried out in recent years. They also signaled a new dynamics for the sector, he said.
“This momentum should retain a new federal government,” Rndschmidt added, according to the CNBC translation of comments E -Star. The expansion of wind energy must be continued without restriction, he said, because it would lead to lower energy costs, job creation, energy supply and reduction in energy imports.
Diw Berlin’s Schill sees several potential obstacles.
“All conditions are truly set for future growth,” he said, noting that the only obstacles could appear if the arrival government slowed the pace of spread, whether for ideological reasons or lack of understanding of the role of the wind farm energy systems.
Giles Dickson, CEO of Windurope Industrial Trade Group, told CNBC to be just a little caring for the sector in a probable CDU leading scenario.
“If you are watching the Government run by a CDU, with any [Social Democratic Party] Or the greenery in the coalition, or both, then it does not represent stormy clouds for us, “he said.
The party has not been neglected when it comes to climate change and at least does not object to the power of wind, Andreas Reuter, director of the Fraunhofer Wind Energy Institute for CNBC, said the German new coalition, CDU/CSU.
Although the CDU was previously critical of the wind turbine, Reuter said the party would be considered “acceptable” for now, because they are widely reliable and produce cheap energy.
Challenges of Renewable Energy Sources
Although the change of government may not mean that the trouble for German wind energy is immediate, the new ruling coalition will face challenges when it comes to renewable energy and wind farms.
This includes updates of the German Renewable Energy Law, German Act designed To ensure that the country can produce 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by the end of the decade, Dickson said.
Solar and wind farms are crucial for these ambitions, because the efforts of Germany are to win energy from nuclear fusion – which is widely considered a very sustainable energy source – still in the research and planning phase. Germany closed its last remaining traditional nuclear power plant 2023.
The new government will have to work on a new iteration of the law, he said, suggesting that industrial bodies would need to be carefully monitored and movement and seek close dialogue with the government to form changes.
The goals that German currently have to increase the production of renewable energy and use are another area that will include adjustments. Some of these goals are already “completely unrealistic,” Iwes Reuter said.
This means that the Government will have to reduce their goals or they will miss them every year, he said, nonotched That the current plans were “aggressive” – but that it was useful in showing that renewable sources of priority were to encourage people to think a big and create a positive environment about this problem.
“On the other hand, we still have a gap, which is increasing and bigger as close as possible in 2030, and the question is: How do we want to fill in the gap? When will we accept that we are not going to meet these goals? And that will be again, Interesting discussions for the next government, “he said.
