Windkraft in Bayern – Großes Potenzial für die Energiewende

A fact sheet by Ember and Initiative Klimaneutrales Deutschland analyzing the untapped wind energy potential in Bavaria, Germany, and the impact of distance regulations on the region's energy transition and gas dependency.

• Bavaria's current wind energy capacity of 2.6 GW is among the lowest in Germany relative to its size, largely due to the 2014 '10H rule' which requires a minimum distance between turbines and residential areas equal to ten times the turbine's height (up to 2 km for 200m turbines).
• Reducing distance regulations would significantly increase wind capacity: maintaining the 10H rule could still allow capacity to double to 5.2 GW; reducing the distance to 1,000 meters statewide could increase it to 9 GW; and a reduction to 800 meters could nearly sixfold the capacity to 15 GW (producing 22 TWh annually).
• Expanding wind energy could help Bavaria meet its 2030 goal of 78 TWh of renewable electricity. With 27 TWh expected from solar, wind power could cover approximately 90% of the remaining 11 TWh gap if the 10H rule is relaxed.
• Increasing wind capacity to the 800-meter distance standard could replace 14 TWh of electricity currently generated from fossil gas, reducing Bavaria's annual gas consumption by 28 TWh (27%). This would result in annual savings of 1.3 billion Euro based on 2024 expected prices, or 3.4 billion Euro if prices return to 2022 levels.

APA

Brown, S. (2023). Windkraft in Bayern – Großes Potenzial für die Energiewende. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Wind_kraft-in-Bay_ern-–-Groses-Po_ten_zial-fur-die-Energie_wen_de.pdf

Chicago

Brown, Sarah. Windkraft in Bayern – Großes Potenzial für die Energiewende. Ember, 2023. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Wind_kraft-in-Bay_ern-–-Groses-Po_ten_zial-fur-die-Energie_wen_de.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Brown |first1=Sarah |title=Windkraft in Bayern – Großes Potenzial für die Energiewende |publisher=Ember |date=December 2023 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Wind_kraft-in-Bay_ern-–-Groses-Po_ten_zial-fur-die-Energie_wen_de.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{brown2023windkraft, author = {Brown, Sarah}, title = {{Windkraft in Bayern – Großes Potenzial für die Energiewende}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Wind_kraft-in-Bay_ern-–-Groses-Po_ten_zial-fur-die-Energie_wen_de.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }