General Information - Wind Energy

The energy concept which will be presented this autumn by the Federal Government will give answers to the question of how our future energy supply will be shaped and structured. To achieve the climate protection targets of the Federal Government the potentials of all regenerative forms of energy - wind, sun, bioenergy and geothermal energy - must be tapped according to the state of the art in the respective technologies.

Today renewables provide about 10.1 percent of primary energy and 16.1 percent of electricity consumed. Since the potential of hydropower in Germany has largely been exploited, wind energy currently offers the moss extensive opportunities for expansion. Technological development in this field is highly advanced, and there is solid experience from using the technology.

Wind turbines use the wind’s kinetic energy, which is created through differences in atmospheric pressure near the Earth’s surface. In Germany wind turbines are exclusively used for the production of electricity which is fed into the grid. Modern wind turbines operate on the principle of lift rather than the principle of drag. They do not offer any resistance to the wind, but the wind creates a lift when it flows past the blades of a turbine, causing the blades to rotate.

948 million tonnes of CO2 were emitted in Germany in 1990, as opposed to 774 million tonnes in 2009. In 2009 wind energy deployment in Germany already saved about 30 million tonnes of CO2. The share of wind power in electricity generation is to increase to 25 percent by 2025, based on today’s electricity consumption. This step alone would reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent and is thus impressive proof of the importance of wind energy for climate protection.

Development of wind energy deployment

Wind energy will play a pivotal role in the energy mix of the future which is aimed at a near CO2 free electricity generation by 2050. As many as 952 new wind turbines were installed in 2009, bringing the number of wind turbines in Germany to a total of 21,164 with a total installed capacity of 25,777 MW by the end of that year. Maintaining the development of wind energy deployment in Germany at its current high level will require further development of suitable locations on land and the replacement of old and small installations by more modern and powerful ones (repowering) and this must be complemented by a gradually increasing deployment of offshore wind energy.

Repowering

Repowering - i.e. the replacement of older and smaller installations with a reduced output by modern and powerful ones - has numerous advantages. These include improved energy efficiency due to a higher energy yield which can be achieved with fewer turbines in the medium term, an unencumbered landscape due to the disappearance of dispersed turbines, a reduction of negative impacts on people and the environment (i.e. through enhanced installation design, choice of locations and concentration of turbines) as well as a marked improvement of grid integration and grid utilisation. In the repowering process local authorities play an important role since they are the responsible licensing agencies. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) together with the Federal Ministry for Transport, Housing and Urban Affairs (BMVBS) and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB) launched a repowering initiative to support the municipalities in their efforts.

The project was aimed at drawing up a manual for planners at local authority and federal state level to give them guidance on the relevant planning law and the development of their own repowering strategies. This manual provides local authorities with information and examples which allows them to take informed and sound decisions on how to develop and implement repowering concepts in their region and at the same time canvass support for the further development of wind energy among the local population.

Due to the experience gained with the repowering manual, the Federal Environment Ministry and the German Association of Towns and Municipalities set up a repowering consulting agency at the end of 2009 with the main task of giving districts, municipalities and local authorities the best possible support for the development and implementation of their local repowering strategies. The staff of the repowering agency will give local authorities comprehensive advice and information on general and fundamental questions of repowering. The agency is located at the Municipal Environmental Campaign U.A.N. in Hannover, Lower Saxony. U.A.N. already played a major role in the development of the repowering manual. The consulting agency will be funded by the Federal Environment Ministry for a total duration of three years. Further information: Repowering of wind turbines - options for action by local authorities (in German only).

Offshore wind power deployment

On 12 August 2009 the first offshore wind turbines started to feed electricity into the German power grid. 12 wind turbines placed at a water depth of 30 metres started operating at the offshore test field Alpha Ventus located 45 km north of the island of Borkum on 27 April 2009. These turbines alone can cover the electricity demand of 50,000 households. Alpha Ventus marks the start of offshore wind energy utilisation in Germany. The construction and operation of the first offshore wind park in German waters is aimed at gaining experience which will benefit future offshore wind parks. For this reason the Federal Environment Ministry has launched a research initiative. Research on the test field will be supported with a total of 50 million euro.

The aim according to the Strategy of the German Government on the use of off-shore wind energy is to feed an installed capacity of 20,000 to 25,000 MW into the grid in the long term, i.e. by 2025 to 2030 when the technology becomes economically viable.

This will increase the share of offshore wind energy in electricity generation to 15% by 2025, based on today’s electricity consumption. The share of onshore wind energy will be 10% and thus considerably below the share of offshore power.

The development of this type of energy is to take place gradually and in a way that is both environmentally and economically sound.

Benefits and costs of wind energy

The total turnover generated by the wind energy sector amounted to 5.8 billion euro in 2009 and approximately 300,500 jobs have been created in the renewable energy sector over the past years. About 87,000 people are currently employed in the wind energy sector alone.

The establishment of global companies has positive employment effects in Germany. The wind energy sector is shaping the structure of the job market at the production and development sites by creating future-oriented jobs.

Wind energy also benefits the national economy, by:

• strengthening rural areas,
• reducing imports of raw materials,
• avoiding external costs,
• directly and indirectly creating jobs.

Further positive impetus comes from the leasing of land which can still be used for agricultural purposes. The tax law introduced on 1 January 2009 provides the legal basis according to which the lion's share of the trade tax income from wind energy generation (70 percent) will go to the local authority in which the wind park is located even if the official seat of the operator is located in another municipality. The so-called citizens’ wind parks in particular strengthen the economy in rural areas.