Berlin, July 27, (dpa/GNA) – The German electricity grid added 240 new onshore wind turbines with a potential output of 971 megawatts during the first six months of the year, according to figures made available to dpa by the sector on Tuesday.
The rise in output represents an increase of 62 per cent over the same period last year, but is still not fast enough to meet the targets for renewable energy set by the government, the Wind Energy Association (BWE) and VDMA Power Systems said.
Over the period, 135 wind turbines were shut down representing output of 140 megawatts.
The energy sector has highlighted lengthy planning and licensing procedures and a shortage of land for erecting turbines as obstacles to further expansion.
The associations are expecting a rise in output for the full year of between 2.2 and 2.4 gigawatts. The figure is well down on the rises of between 3.5 and almost 4.9 gigawatts posted in the peak years 2014 to 2017.
“We are of course pleased that we are seeing a rise again after a severe crisis,” BWE head Hermann Albers, told national public broadcaster ARD. He called for construction to be accelerated.
In 2020, Germany added just 420 wind turbines for a total of 1,431 megawatts in output. That figure was only marginally up on that of 2019, which saw the smallest expansion since Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) was passed in the 2000.
GNA