Renewable energies: Wind power expansion: Hesse is in the middle when compared to other countries

More new wind turbines were approved in Germany in 2024 than ever before, and Hesse is in the middle when it comes to expansion. According to figures from the Federal Wind Energy Association, wind turbines with an output of 1,028 megawatts (MW) were approved in Hesse. In all 16 countries, the authorities approved 2,405 new wind turbines with an output of 14,056 megawatts last year.

Approved does not equal built

In 2024, however, only 635 wind turbines with a total output of 3,251 megawatts were put into operation across Germany. According to the data, Hesse had 22 systems with an output of 118.7 megawatts – a share of 3.7 percent of the total expansion.

The leaders were North Rhine-Westphalia with 154 systems (748.3 MW), Lower Saxony with 127 systems (673.2 MW) and Schleswig-Holstein with 113 systems (574.1 MW). Bavaria put eight wind turbines with 45.7 MW into operation. Saxony built five (23.9 MW) and Saarland two (9.8 MW). No facilities were built in the three city states.

Wind energy as the “backbone” of supply

The President of the Federal Wind Energy Association, Bärbel Heidebroek, said that the records for new approvals “illustrate the strong effectiveness of the reforms of recent years”. Wind energy is thus further expanding its leading role as the most important energy source in the German electricity mix. “Wind energy is not only the backbone of Germany’s energy supply, but also, alongside photovoltaics, the future technology with the cheapest electricity production costs.”

A new federal government after the federal election on February 23rd also took the President to task: A new electricity market design is needed for cheap and reliable electricity from wind energy. “Unfortunately, it was not possible to set this up in the last legislative period,” said Heidebroek. “The expectations of the coming federal government are correspondingly high.”