Bavaria's wind potential can deliver more than its transition

Bavaria currently has 2.6 GW of installed wind capacity, but the report finds that reducing the minimum distance between turbines and residences to 800 metres could increase this capacity nearly sixfold to 15 GW. Such an expansion would generate 22 TWh of electricity, accounting for 22% of Germany's onshore wind power and allowing Bavaria to reduce its annual gas consumption by 27%. The report highlights that the current '10H rule'—requiring a distance ten times the turbine's height—has stalled project permitting, and suggests that adopting more flexible distance rules, similar to those recently implemented in Poland, would enhance energy sovereignty and save billions in gas costs.

• Bavaria's current wind capacity of 2.6 GW could increase nearly sixfold to 15 GW if the distance between turbines and residences was reduced to 800 metres across the state, resulting in 22 TWh of generation.
• Increasing wind generation to 22 TWh would represent 17% of Germany's total wind power and 22% of its onshore wind capacity.
• Expanding wind capacity under an 800-metre distance rule would allow Bavaria to cut its annual gas consumption by 27% (at least 28 TWh), potentially saving €1.3 billion based on 2024 prices or €3.4 billion if prices returned to 2022 levels.
• The '10H rule' introduced in 2014, which requires a distance between turbines and settlements ten times the turbine's height, has caused onshore wind permitting to almost completely stop.
• Bavaria's 2030 target to increase renewable electricity generation from 40 TWh to 78 TWh cannot be met by solar alone; onshore wind could meet approximately 90% of the remaining 11 TWh gap if distance restrictions were relaxed to 1000 metres.

APA

Brown, S., & Mewes, C. (2023). Bavaria's wind potential can deliver more than its transition. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Bavarias-wind-potential-can-deliver-more-than-its-transition-1.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Sarah, and Clara Mewes. Bavaria's wind potential can deliver more than its transition. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Bavarias-wind-potential-can-deliver-more-than-its-transition-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Sarah |last2=Mewes |first2=Clara |title=Bavaria's wind potential can deliver more than its transition |publisher=Ember |date=4 December 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Bavarias-wind-potential-can-deliver-more-than-its-transition-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2023bavarias, author = {Brown, Sarah and Mewes, Clara}, title = {{Bavaria's wind potential can deliver more than its transition}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Bavarias-wind-potential-can-deliver-more-than-its-transition-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }