Germany approved 2,400 new wind turbines in 2024, marking the highest number ever and highlighting the sector's momentum, despite the far-right's election promises to dismantle wind farms and restore nuclear power.
A report from the German Wind Energy Association and VDMA Power Systems, the association for power plant engineering, said German wind power hit a historic milestone in 2024 as authorities approved a record-breaking expansion of 14 gigawatts.
"This is a significant step in the right direction," said Dennis Rendschmidt, VDMA's managing director, emphasizing that the government must "maintain this momentum" regardless of who takes power after the Feb 23 elections.
The far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party in Germany has taken a strong anti-wind energy stance ahead of the elections, promising to remove existing turbines and halt new projects.
Recent polls indicate that the AfD is polling at approximately 21 percent nationally, positioning it as the second most popular party behind the conservative alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, which leads with 31 percent.
AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel used her party's recent congress to criticize "fluctuating" renewable energy, stating to German broadcaster ZDF that it doesn't function "when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine".
Addressing AfD members at the meeting, Weidel promised to remove what she described as Germany's "windmills of shame".
Her energy plan calls for expanded use of planet-heating fossil fuels, including Russian gas, alongside nuclear power to create a "sustainable, serious energy mix", though experts largely consider this approach unrealistic, reported Deutsche Welle, or DW News.
"A return to nuclear power in Germany is not plausible or helpful, in terms of climate protection, nor would it be economical," explained energy expert Wolf-Peter Schill from Berlin's German Institute for Economic Research.
He referenced the country's shutdown of its last three nuclear reactors nearly two years ago, adding that "(the reactors) have already been dismantled to such an extent that they cannot simply be put back into operation".
The construction of new nuclear facilities, Schill concluded, would be too time-consuming to contribute meaningfully to climate goals.
Experts warn that dismantling Germany's 30,000 wind turbines would not only incur massive costs in decommissioning and compensation but would also force greater reliance on expensive electricity imports, reported DW.
"If you don't want wind power or solar energy, then the only option is fossil fuels," Schill said. "I don't see any other realistic option for power generation in Germany."
According to recent figures from the Federal Network Agency, renewable sources provided 59 percent of Germany's electricity in 2024, rising from 56 percent in 2023, with wind power accounting for more than half of renewable generation.
Economic Affairs and Climate Action Minister Robert Habeck attributed this growth to his coalition government's efforts to streamline and expedite wind and solar project approvals over the past two years.
