German Economy Minister to Push Wind Power Expansion

Germany's economic minister, Robert Habeck, said  Monday that the slowdown in wind power expansion in the first quarter of 2022 would clash with more renewable energy targets, promising the government will try to speed a reversal of the trend.

A set of laws designed to accelerate the green push will not come into force until 2023, but the department will improve approval speeds and investment frameworks, removing hurdles in prioritizing airspace in military and aviation negotiations, aiming to strengthen personnel, he said.

Last week, the coalition government decided on a major energy policy reform package aimed at raising wind and solar energy expansion to a totally new level and speeding up approval and construction processes. 

Reforms are currently under discussion in Congress and are part of the climate protection package promised by the federal government this year in a coalition agreement.

“We had fewer permits and applications at the beginning this year than last year and that was already a miserably bad year,” said economy minister Robert Habeck after a meeting with representatives from the renewables industry in Berlin.