German installations face further fall

GERMANY: German onshore wind installations could shrink by up to 20% in 2016, about the same reduction as 2015, indicated Hermann Albers, president of federal wind energy association Bundesverband Windenergie (BWE).

by Sara Knight 16 June 2016

German installations could fall again in 2016 and 2017, following a decline in 2015

According to “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç figures, the additions in 2016 could therefore total around just under 3GW, compared with more than 3.7GW added in 2015.

The decline in the market could be as a result of Bavaria's rule preventing turbines being installed closer than ten times the hub height to dwellings, ruling out most possible sites, as well as regional planning problems in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein.

A one-off 5% reduction in support planned by the federal government from 1 June 2017 on top of existing regular support reductions could cause another sharp drop in 2017 installations.

Albers cited energy company EnBW, which said 50% of its planned and permitted onshore projects would not be implemented if the additional reduction is applied.