New wind turbines installations in Germany grew some 26 percent in the first half of the year

New wind power installations in Germany grew some 26 percent in the first half of the year, faster than in previous years despite delays in building offshore wind turbines, industry groups said on Wednesday.

The BWE wind power group and VDMA Power Systems turbine makers group said Germany had added 1,004 megawatts (MW) of installed wind farm capacity in the first six months of the year. They expect that to rise to 2,400 MW by the end of the year – equivalent to the output of two nuclear power stations.

“What is making a big difference is that states in southern Germany, such as Bavaria, are starting to embrace wind energy,” BWE President Hermann Albers told reporters, adding that increased efficiency had also boosted capacity.

By the middle of the year, Germany had 22,664 wind turbines with a total capacity of 30,016 MW.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel aims to increase renewable energy to at least 35 percent of power generation by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 in her planned shift away from nuclear power.

About 25 percent of electricity already came from renewables in the first half and some 37 p ercent of that comes from wind turbines.