“uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç

The German government plans to increase its onshore wind target for 2030 to 95GW, from 71GW stated previously, according to a new draft law.

In its new draft climate protection programme, the government also proposes increasing its target for solar PV capacity from 100GW by 2030 to 150GW by the same date.

German wind energy association BWE described the proposal to increase wind power capacity as “ambitious and necessary”.

However, it does not expect the target to be raised just yet, as parliament is due to sit for only two more weeks and no more laws are due to be passed in the current legislature session. The law could only be passed after the German federal election in September.

Germany currently has 55.2GW of operational onshore wind capacity, according to “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç Intelligence, the research and data division of “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç.

Earlier this year, the federal government agreed to increase onshore wind tender volumes from 2.8GW a year to 4GW from 2022 — a move that could help the country towards this raised target.

However, a lack of permitted projects has meant that Germany’s onshore wind tenders are routinely undersubscribed.

Energy minister Peter Altmaier convened a roundtable discussion on what to do with turbines exiting the country’s support system in October 2020. The government then pledged to address repowering and permitting issues with legislation in the first quarter of 2021. However, any action has yet to materialise.

In its new draft climate protection programme, the German federal government states it aims to work closely with the state governments to better designate areas for wind expansion.