BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany approved over 4,000 megawatts (MW) of new onshore wind power capacity and added more than 1,000 MW in new installations in the first quarter of 2025, an industry lobby said on Wednesday, signalling a potential record year for the sector.
New onshore wind power installations rose 40% on the year in the first three months of 2025 while new approvals hit a record for a first quarter, marking the third consecutive quarter in which the 4,000 MW threshold was reached for approvals, according to the BWE wind power association.
“With its strong first quarter, 2025 is already showing the potential to become a record year for new installations and approvals,” BWE head Baerbel Heidebroek said in a statement.
The boost is pushed by Germany’s drive for decarbonisation and to cut dependency on imported fossil fuels, accelerated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Over the past three years, Germany’s outgoing government passed several laws to remove renewable energy expansion obstacles and accelerate project approvals as it aims to cover 80% of the country’s electricity needs with renewables by 2030.
Heidebroek said there is enough approved capacity — around 28 gigawatts — to supply this year’s upcoming subsidy auction rounds, with a significant share coming from Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Markus Wacket, Editing by Rachel More)
