Wind Energy Expansion In Germany in 2024 at Previous Year's Level - IWR Expects Upturn in 2025/26
Münster, Germany - The expansion of wind energy in Germany in 2024 will not be able to match the growth figures of previous years. As in the previous year, new onshore and offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of just under 4,000 MW were installed. However, there are signs of a trend reversal.
Germany: Offshore wind energy on the rise - onshore wind energy down on the previous year
In 2024, a total of 701 wind turbines (2023: 782 turbines) with a capacity of 3,920 MW (2023: 3,843 MW) were newly commissioned in Germany. This is the result of an initial evaluation of data from the Market Master Data Register (MaStR) of the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) by the International Economic Forum for Renewable Energies (IWR) in Münster (data as of January 3, 2025).
In 2024, a total of 628 newly built and commissioned wind turbines (2023: 755 turbines) with a capacity of 3,178 MW (2023: 3,585 MW) will be attributable to onshore wind energy in Germany.
There has been significant market growth in the offshore wind energy segment. According to the available data, two offshore wind farms with a total of 73 wind turbines (2023: 27 turbines) and an output of 742 MW (2023: 257 MW) have been connected to the grid in Germany. The offshore wind farms Gode Wind 3 from Ørsted (Siemens Gamesa turbines) in the North Sea and Baltic Eagle from Iberdrola (Vestas turbines) in the Baltic Sea have been connected to the grid as planned.
Federal states: NRW moves up to 1st place in 2024
With 152 new wind turbines and a capacity of 733 MW, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia moves up to first place in the federal state rankings, followed by Lower Saxony (126 turbines, 652 MW), Schleswig-Holstein (115 turbines, 579 MW), Brandenburg (69 turbines, 360 MW) and Saxony-Anhalt (46 turbines, 250 MW).
Saarland (2 turbines, 9.8 MW), Saxony (5 turbines, 23.9 MW) and Thuringia (6 turbines, 30.7 MW) are at the bottom of the federal state rankings. No wind turbines were commissioned in the city states (Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin) in 2024.
Wind power production in Germany reaches 137 billion kWh
According to grid operator data, electricity generation from wind energy in Germany reached a total of around 137 billion kWh (2023: 142 billion kWh). While onshore wind power production was lower than in the previous year at 111.6 billion kWh (2023: 118 billion kWh), electricity generation from offshore wind turbines climbed to around 25.6 billion kWh in 2024 (2023: around 24 billion kWh).
Outlook for the wind market: transition year 2024 - IWR expects growth in 2025 and 2026
The IWR expects the expansion of wind energy in Germany to pick up speed again in the coming years. With the amendment to regional planning and other laws in 2022 and 2023, the traffic light federal government has simplified the construction of infrastructure projects (wind farms, railway lines, power grids, large industrial plants) and significantly shortened the approval process.
As a result, more wind farm projects were included in the Federal Network Agency's tendering rounds. The capacity of onshore wind projects awarded increased from 6,377 MW (2023) to 10,996 MW (2024).
In the offshore segment, the offshore wind farms He Dreiht (EnBW) and Borkum Riffgrund 3 with a total capacity of 1,800 MW are currently scheduled to go into operation in 2025, followed by Iberdrola's Windanker offshore wind farm with a capacity of 300 MW in 2026.
“The year 2024 marks a year of transition in the German wind industry. According to the Federal Network Agency's increasing tendering figures, the conditions are good for the wind market in Germany to gain significant momentum in 2025 and especially in 2026,” said IWR head Dr. Norbert Allnoch in Münster.
Source: IWR Online, 10 Jan 2025
