Renewable energy? This is hardly a phenomenon among the winners of the elections in Thuringia and Saxony. Nevertheless, many players in the industry are confident.
Also in the East: Wind turbines in Arnstadt, Thuringia Photo: dpa
Berlin Taz | Many are worried, some are rebellious, a few are confident. The state elections in Saxony and Thuringia are currently generating very different emotions among those who want to develop future technologies and make money from them. “The energy supply is undergoing a transformation process in Europe and the world,” says Ramona Rothe of the Thuringian Energy and GreenTech Agency (Thega). In Thuringia, there are so many interests at stake that no new state government can simply withdraw, says Rothe. She heads Thega’s renewable energy department. “From consulting with around 200 companies, we know that there is a huge need for renewable energies, especially in the steel, glass and paper industries,” says Rothe. “Thuringia can only secure its position by adding wind and solar power.”
Although the state is not yet a leader in the expansion of solar and wind energy, it is catching up. “This is evident in the numbers,” says Rothe. There are currently 135 wind turbines in the approval process, and 278 municipalities have received advice from Thega on expanding wind power. The federal government has gained momentum by requiring that 2 percent of the state’s land area be used for wind turbines, says Rothe. And the revised Federal Immission Control Act now allows for faster approvals. “Thuringia is already well prepared for this,” says Rothe.
Falk Zeuner from Saxony is also feeling the wind from Berlin. The president of the Association for the Promotion of Renewable Energy (VEE) observed that many municipalities are keenly interested in planning wind turbines in their area.
Saxony has implemented the 2 percent target of the onshore wind energy law much more ambitiously than other federal states and wants to reach it not just by the end of 2032, but as early as 2027. There are also “flexibility provisions” for municipalities, which can use renewable energy on their own before the local plan is handed over. “This shows that legislation in Berlin and Brussels is important,” says Zeuner. “Implementation on the ground is equally important.”
Communication on energy transition is important
Zeuner is managing director of Terawatt planning company mbH, a developer of wind turbine projects in Leipzig. In recent years, he says, the Greens have been able to achieve a lot in the Dresden state government regarding renewable energies. How the topic is presented is also important. “The topic of the energy transition is complex. Projects often take years from idea to implementation,” says Zeuner. Officials can delay or accelerate procedures and decide for or against projects. “It depends on what the mood is like, i.e. whether the local approval authorities feel that there is a tailwind for the energy transition from above,” says Zeuner.
He therefore finds Chancellor Michael Kretschmer’s (CDU) election campaign very problematic. “He is delaying the project by saying that the energy transition has failed.” More and more people are realizing that the transition to decentralized renewable energy offers the opportunity to keep Saxony as an energy and business center and to create regional added value.
“It is the businessmen who are the clients of the CDU who are demanding huge amounts of renewable energy and green gas,” Zeuner said angrily. “That will actually be handed over to the chancellor at some point.” The biggest misconception is that many conservatives see the energy transition as a green project, but “it is no longer that, it is a project for the whole of society that has a profound impact on the economic future of the country.”
But in Saxony and Thuringia, on the other hand, there was no consensus among the election winners. “The war in Ukraine and the subsequent rise in fossil fuel prices completely turned this story upside down,” says Philipp Blechinger, director of the Berlin Reiner Lemoine Institute (RLI) graduate school. The argument that renewable energy would make Western Europe more independent of oil and gas imports from Russia is unconvincing.
“Shaping Transformation”
“The question has now been resolved. Now they say, ‘Energy must remain cheap’. That means going back to fossil fuels, even if renewables are actually cheaper,” says Blechinger. The RLS Graduate School closely examined the election programs of the parties in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in terms of statements on the transformation of the economy and energy supply. Not much was found for the CDU, the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and the AfD. The CDU “selectively called for aspects such as climate funding, a reform of the network tariffs or the promotion of green hydrogen, but lacked clear commitments, vision and objectives, especially in the areas of heating and industrial transformation.”
There is no statement on Saxony in the BSW on the topic of “industrial transformation, infrastructure and networks or power market design.” It is no wonder that the dominant discourse often features claims that industry needs to be protected. “But that is the opposite of what we need,” says Blechinger. “We need to create change.”
Those surveyed largely agree on how the energy, industry and transport transition can be brought back into play. “Thuringia is still far from being able to supply its own electricity,” says Ramona Rothe. “We need to ensure that the municipalities, for example, can supply their kindergartens with their own electricity through wind power, no matter what happens.” What is needed is “maximum citizen participation,” and Falk Zeuner emphasizes that “the income must remain local.” In the best case scenario, a community could earn around 40,000 to 80,000 euros per year from a single wind turbine. “It’s worth it.”
