Has Germany left behind its onshore wind turmoil?

• Germany has put permitting difficulties behind it after a few tough years

• It is poised to install 37.8GW og onshore wind between 2025 and 2030

• Enercon last week secured an €800m framework deal for 100 turbines

Is Germany now Europe’s undisputed onshore wind development powerhouse?

That could look like a stupid question. In terms of installed onshore wind capacity, Germany is by far the leading country in Europe with 63.6GW of onshore wind in operation at the end of 2024. That is double the 31.2GW in second-place Spain.

It also leads the way for new installations. In 2024, 3.3GW of onshore wind farms were installed, which was more than double the 1.4GW in second-placed Finland; and, in 2023, 3.6GW of onshore wind was commissioned in Germany, which was 80% higher than the 2GW switched on in second-placed Sweden.

And the future prognosis looks good too. Germany is expected to far outstrip other European countries for onshore wind installations in the next six years, according to predictions from WindEurope. The trade association has forecast that 5.1GW of wind farms will be commissioned onshore in 2025, which is two-and-a-half times more than the 1.9GW expected in second-placed France.

Looking further ahead, WindEurope has forecast that 37.8GW of onshore wind farms will be commissioned in Germany over the next six years, or an average of 6.3GW a year until 2030. Spain (12.9GW), France (11.3GW) and Finland (7.8GW) are the only other three European countries expected to add over 1GW of onshore wind capacity each year until 2030. That means Germany has the most onshore wind in operation; adds the most each year; and will add three times more than its nearest rival by 2030.

So yes, Germany is Europe’s undisputed onshore wind development powerhouse — but the interesting element is how it has turned things around in recent years. In the early 2020s, its status as Europe’s top wind development hotspot was not assured.

Let’s look at the first three years of this decade. In 2022, 2.4GW of onshore wind was completed in Germany, which put it a close third place behind Sweden and Finland as both countries backed the rollout of large land-based schemes. In 2021, Sweden led the way with 2.1GW completed, ahead of Germany’s 1.9GW; and, in 2020, Norway saw 1.5GW commissioned ahead of just over 1.4GW in Germany.

This shows that Germany has re-opened the gap between other countries, and this is as much to do with what Germany has done right as what others have done wrong.

Accelerated permitting

In Norway, the onshore wind sector has faced a huge backlash from locals, including due to the protracted legal dispute between the developers of the 1GW Fosen project and Sami reindeer herders. Local opposition featured in Sweden and Finland as well, but neither has seen development derailed in the same way as in Norway.

This contrasts with Germany, where challenges in the early part of this decade were caused by inefficient processes rather than community opposition. These included permitting bottlenecks, supply chain difficulties, and the growing attractiveness of solar compared to wind.

The country has addressed some of these concerns in the new German Wind Energy Act (WindBG) that became law on 19th September 2024. This required federal states to designate 2% of their territory for onshore wind farms by 2032, up from the 0.8% of German land currently earmarked for the purpose.

Federal states have also accelerated their permitting processes. Last year, regulators approved permits for projects totalling 14GW with 2,400 turbines, which was up 85% year-on-year, but there are differences between how fast states approve projects. In the first quarter of 2025, average permitting time for onshore wind farms in Germany fell to 18 months, and resulted in 4.2GW being approved in the first quarter of 2025. This means the country is the only one meeting the European Union’s 24-month goal for permitting new onshore wind farms.

And government tender rounds are working more efficiently too, with nearly 11GW of onshore wind projects awarded support by th Federal Network Agency in 2024.

That still puts the onus on developers to take permitted projects through construction and into operation, but is opening the way for big deals. For example, on 6th June, German turbine maker Enercon signed a partnership to supply developer Enercity Erneuerbare with around 100 turbines worth €800m. The two-year partnership has the option of an extension, and follows a tender process run by Enercity Erneuerbare.

Benjamin Seifert, regional head central and northern Europe at Enercon, noted that the “wind energy market in Germany has picked up speed”.

“The transfer of building permits to project implementation is increasing,” he said. “The prerequisite for successful projects will be an early and agile cooperation between the project participants.”

Germany is also moving beyond its recent political upheaval. The country is now led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who leads the centre-right Christian Democratic Union party. His government was officially formed last month following the collapse of the previous coalition in December 2024. Merz has pledged to continue Germany’s drive towards carbon neutrality by 2045; to phase out nuclear power; and to complete the phaseout of coal by 2038. He has also said he remains committed to renewables.

This current success follows the formation of a new government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who leads the centre-right Christian Democratic Union party. The government was officially formed one month ago after the collapse of the German coalition government in December 2024. Merz has pledged to continue to drive towards carbon neutrality by 2045; phase out nuclear power; and complete the phaseout of coal by 2038. He is also committed to renewables, but said economic policy focused on the climate “must… and will change”.

Merz has inherited a country with a wind sector that has moved beyond the turmoil of the early 2020s. He must keep building on this development success story.