Nimbys and Greens are teaming up to block German wind farms

Germany’s Robert Habeck might well be an excellent children’s book author but he is proving to be a dismal economy and climate minister. Habeck, who also serves as the Greens vice-chancellor in the country’s coalition government, rode to power in 2021 promising to speed up the transition to renewables. At the heart of his pledge: more windmills, bigger windmills and, above all, built much, much faster. But these promises are proving to be little more than hot air, as my own fruitless struggle to build windmills attests.

Wind energy is crucial if Germany is to meet its goal of renewables producing 80 per cent of electricity by 2030, up from 46 per cent last year. Chancellor Olaf Scholz says that ‘four or five windmills’ must enter service daily between now and 2030. The University of Cologne’s Energy Economy Institute says six windmills must be built each day to meet the target.