Wind power is a major source of electricity in Germany. The country's energy plan, called the Energiewende, has stopped using nuclear power by 2023. About 60% of Germany's electricity comes from renewable sources, with half of that from wind power.

In 2024, about one-third of Germany's total electricity was produced by wind power. This is much higher than 6.2% in 2010 and 1.6% in 2000. In 2024, wind power generated 136.9 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity. Of this, 111.9 TWh came from onshore wind (25.9% of total electricity use), and 26 TWh came from offshore wind. At the end of 2024, Germany had a total wind power capacity of 72.75 gigawatts (GW): 63.55 GW from onshore wind (using 28,717 wind turbines) and 9.2 GW from offshore wind (using 1,639 wind turbines).

Although there were early attempts, like the Reichskraftturm wind towers during the World Wars and the 3-megawatt Growian project from 1976 to 1988, wind power grew into an important industry in Germany. Companies such as Enercon, Nordex, and Senvion now produce wind turbines.

The German government plans to increase offshore wind energy to 30 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and 70 GW by 2045. These goals aim to use more renewable energy and reduce reliance on imported energy. To help reach these targets, the government is making it easier to approve wind energy projects. In 2024, 2,405 new wind turbines (14.056 GW) were approved, a new record.

World leader in wind power capacity

The United Kingdom has the greatest wind energy possibilities in Europe, while Germany has fewer. However, during the late 20th century, Germany developed the world's largest wind power system. Volkmar Lauber explains this success through seven factors in Germany:

• Germany showed the strongest dedication to renewable energy by its government and people;
• The country had a strong government that focused on being efficient;
• It used cost-effective ways to improve efficiency;
• It had efficient and simple administrative processes;
• It quickly built a strong domestic industry for wind power equipment;
• New business leaders emerged who were more focused on renewable energy than older electric companies;
• Society and government in Germany widely supported and accepted wind energy development.

Onshore wind power

Since 1995, onshore wind energy has been an important industry in Germany. In 1995, the total production of onshore wind power was 1,530 GWh. By 2019, the total production from onshore wind power had increased to over 101,000 GWh, helping Germany power about one-fifth of the country using wind energy. Larger onshore wind projects are being planned, which may increase the percentage of wind energy used in Germany. Germany is also known for having several major wind turbine manufacturers based there, such as Enercon in Aurich, Senvion in Hamburg, and Nordex in Rostock.

Offshore wind power

Offshore wind energy has great potential in Germany. Wind speeds at sea are 70 to 100% higher than on land and are more consistent. By 2007, a new generation of wind turbines with a power of 5 megawatts or more had been created. These turbines could use the strong and steady sea winds efficiently, making offshore wind farms more cost-effective to operate.

On July 15, 2009, the first offshore wind turbine in Germany was completed. This turbine was the first of 12 planned for the alpha ventus offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

After the 2011 nuclear accident in Japan, Germany’s government began creating a new plan to increase the use of renewable energy, especially offshore wind farms. The plan included building large wind turbines far from coastlines, where wind is more consistent and less likely to disturb people. The goal was to reduce reliance on coal and nuclear power. The plan aimed to install 7.6 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2020 and 26 gigawatts by 2030.

A major challenge was the limited ability to transport electricity from the North Sea to industrial areas in southern Germany.

In 2014, 410 turbines with a total power of 1,747 megawatts were added to Germany’s offshore wind farms. However, due to incomplete grid connections, only 528.9 megawatts were connected to the power grid by the end of 2014. Despite this, Germany reached the 1 gigawatt offshore wind power milestone by the end of 2014. Offshore wind power tripled to over 3 gigawatts by 2015, showing the sector’s growth.

By the end of 2019, Germany had installed 1,469 offshore wind turbines with a total capacity of 7.52 gigawatts. In the North Sea, the capacity was 6.44 gigawatts, and in the Baltic Sea, it was 1.08 gigawatts. In 2019, these wind farms produced 25.8 terawatt-hours of electricity.

The German government, along with Lower Saxony and private companies, has committed €300 million to expand the Cuxhaven offshore terminal by 30 hectares. Construction must begin before the approval for this expansion expires in February 2025. This project is part of a larger effort to increase Germany’s offshore wind capacity to 30 gigawatts by 2030 and 70 gigawatts by 2045. This goal will require about 200 hectares of additional port space by the end of the 2020s to support new wind farm projects.

Government support

Since 2011, Germany's government has been creating a new plan to increase the use of renewable energy, especially focusing on offshore wind farms.

In 2016, the Third Merkel cabinet chose to replace fixed prices for energy producers with competitions starting in 2017. They believed that the wind energy market was mature enough for this approach. These competitions have led to some future offshore wind farms being operated at market prices without receiving subsidies.

To increase wind power use, the Scholz cabinet passed a law requiring Germany to reserve 2% of its total land area for wind energy by 2032.

The 2010 "Energiewende" policy was supported by the German government and led to a large increase in renewable energy, especially wind power. Germany's share of renewable energy rose from about 5% in 1999 to 17% in 2010, reaching near the OECD average of 18% usage. Energy producers received a fixed price for 20 years, ensuring a steady income. Energy co-operatives were formed, and efforts were made to spread control and profits more evenly. Large energy companies had a small share in the renewable energy market. Nuclear power plants were shut down starting in 2011 following the Fukushima disaster. By April 2023, nine reactors had been closed.

Reducing reliance on nuclear plants temporarily led to more use of fossil fuels. In 2023, Germany imported more electricity than it exported for the first time. A lack of investment in power infrastructure, like the SüdLink project, has made it hard to use new renewable energy effectively. Transmission limits sometimes forced Germany to pay Danish wind power to stop producing. In October and November 2015, this cost 96 GWh of energy and 1.8 million euros.

German states have different opinions about building new power lines. Industry rates were frozen, so the extra costs of the Energiewende were passed to consumers, leading to higher electricity bills. In 2013, Germans had some of the highest electricity costs in Europe.

Public opinion

In Germany, many people have helped fund wind farms across the country. Thousands of small and medium businesses are working in this new industry, which in 2015 provided jobs for 142,900 people and produced 12.3 percent of Germany's electricity in 2016.

Recently, more people have started opposing the growth of wind power in Germany. Concerns include changes to the natural landscape, the removal of forest areas to build wind turbines, low-level noise from the turbines, and harm to wildlife such as birds of prey and bats. Since 2022, most German states have passed laws requiring local governments and, in some cases, residents to share in the profits from wind power projects in their areas.

Repowering

In Germany, old wind turbines are being replaced with newer, larger machines. These modern turbines use wind energy more efficiently, allowing more electricity to be produced from the same area of land. They also connect to the power grid in a way that is similar to traditional power plants, making it easier to send electricity to homes and businesses.