Minister ignores wind fair: "Our patron Mrs Reiche apparently has other plans"

Husum Wind is the annual highlight of the wind energy industry. On the North Sea coast, more than 600 exhibitors present the latest trends in wind power. For onshore, offshore, and everything related to it: storage, hydrogen, recycling, and financing. The trade fair's patron is the Federal Minister of Economics, but unlike her political predecessors, Katherina Reiche is foregoing a visit this week: "Our industry's inquiries don't seem to be getting through," says Heiko Wuttke in ntv's "Climate Lab." "Apparently, Ms. Reiche has other plans." Wuttke is CEO of PNE AG. He fears that politics will once again cause a slump in the wind business: "Renewables are the cornerstone of our power supply; that's the consensus. This must also reach the government, and especially the Ministry of Economics."

ntv.de: PNE AG has built 297 wind farms in its 30-year history. Do you have a favorite wind farm?

Heiko Wuttke: I wouldn't say that. All projects are close to our hearts. Wind farm festivals are always nice. They're more likely to be celebrated on a small scale than on a large scale.

Wind farm festivals?

Yes, we celebrate with the local communities at the wind farm once it's been built and ready for operation. People can tour the wind turbines and see what's been created.

Was there ever a Minister of Economic Affairs as a guest?

From state politics, yes, from federal politics, no.

What are the chances that Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche will attend one of your wind farm festivals?

Not so good at the moment. Inquiries from the industry don't seem to be coming through. This week, Husum Wind is taking place. It's Germany's largest trade fair for wind energy, PV, and batteries. Political celebrities from Berlin usually attend. We would have been delighted to have had a visit from the Minister of Economic Affairs, as her ministry is even the patron of the trade fair. But Ms. Reiche apparently has other plans.

She prefers to spend her time with gas companies?

You can read about the events Katherina Reiche has attended so far. These mostly focus on conventional energy.

Is it just a compensation for the Habeck years? He placed a strong focus on renewable energies, and now it's the others' turn?

I don't know if a balance is necessary. Robert Habeck has been heavily involved with renewables, but the focus was on regulatory issues like approval procedures to accelerate wind and PV projects. That was necessary, because before him, progress had been slow for years. And we want to achieve a goal: Germany should become climate-neutral and energy should be affordable. That won't happen without renewables and also not without rapid expansion. That should be the focus, regardless of which minister is in charge.

What would you like to talk about with Ms. Reiche if the expansion of renewable energies has already been given momentum by the traffic light coalition?

I just hope that we follow what the Federal Network Agency, science, and industry already know: We need to do our homework, which means significantly expanding demand flexibility and storage capacity. Yes, this includes controllable capacity, but also a clear commitment to renewables and their consistent expansion.

These are the famous gas-fired power plants. A surprising number of them are now being demanded.

Controllable capacities don't necessarily have to be gas-fired power plants. Battery storage, biomass power plants, or combined heat and power plants are also included.

Not so much with Katherina Reiche.

That seems to be the case. The Chancellor apparently sees it similarly. If you look at various studies and also at what the Federal Network Agency writes in its latest supply report , you realize: We need everything. We can't afford to cut back on anything. The Federal Network Agency is considering two scenarios. In them, the demand for additional gas-fired power plants will only increase if we delay the expansion of renewables. That cannot be the argument.

But we're already on that path. Not only Katherina Reiche, but also Chancellor Friedrich Merz says : "My guess is that we can do a little less in terms of expansion."

That's a shame, because it contradicts all the studies. But there are no concrete plans yet; on the contrary: The Chancellor simultaneously says that Germany should be climate-neutral by 2045, as planned. This requires consistent expansion. The current situation is as follows: New plants with a capacity of almost 8,000 megawatts were approved across Germany in the first half of the year. They can apply for an EEG tariff. With so many projects, you have to offer a good, i.e., low, electricity price. Whoever wins the contract must build within three years. This expansion will therefore happen anyway.

Would expansion be worthwhile even without feed-in tariffs? This is now being questioned , especially for private solar systems. Some are also asking about wind energy: Why are we still paying for it? We only wanted to stimulate the industry.

Germany is already being urged by the EU to revise its Renewable Energy Sources Act and thus its feed-in tariff starting in 2027. This has already happened in many other countries. Contracts for difference are often used there. These, too, are guaranteed prices for a certain period of time. Regardless of whether you're planning a wind farm or a gas-fired power plant, the project must be profitable, and you need a secure framework for that. Otherwise, nothing will happen. I'm curious to see what Ms. Reiche proposes. What it's called doesn't matter.

Can't you set a fixed price for everyone? Then the cheapest option will automatically prevail.

I wouldn't think that's a bad thing at all, but then no new gas-fired power plants would be built. They can't compete with our electricity prices – unless we dip into the tax coffers and heavily subsidize them.

Your electricity is cheap, but its transport to consumers is not. You don't contribute to the costs of grid expansion.

That's true. But why are we building expensive grids and transporting electricity over long distances instead of regulating energy supply regionally? Unfortunately, the southern German states have missed the boat on the expansion of renewables.

But you can't relocate southern German industry to the north either.

We don't have to. But we should accelerate the expansion of wind power in the south and massively expand storage capacity in the right places. Currently, we have connection requests for 500 gigawatts. Not all of that will be built, but these storage facilities could absorb large amounts of surplus electricity and release it again at the right time. We own several substations and are already considering whether to supplement our wind or solar farms with storage facilities. Then we would actually only supply electricity when it's needed. Why should we then be required to contribute to the grid costs?

Because not everyone thinks like you, but instead builds wind farms where they are not actually needed, thus causing unnecessary costs?

Then the costs are simply shifted onto those who create new power sources. Those who have existing capacity don't have to do anything; they're fine. That doesn't sound particularly fair.

RWE CEO Markus Krebber would probably like that, yes.

The highest grid fees are paid in the north , because a particularly large amount of wind power is generated there and transported to the south. If these costs are to be distributed fairly, it would be better to consider electricity price zones. But Bavaria's Minister-President Markus Söder rejects this, as does Winfried Kretschmann in Baden-Württemberg, even though he should know better.

There is no compromise where everyone contributes to the costs of grid connection and grid expansion?

Costs can be reduced and distributed more fairly by rewarding customers for "correct" consumption. This requires smart meters that indicate: There's currently a special electricity offer. We've been talking about this for decades, but we haven't made any progress. Instead, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs says : Then the business case will simply get worse. Only one thing will happen: You can no longer operate a wind farm economically.

When it comes to the energy transition, it's often argued that the high costs are jeopardizing jobs in traditional industries. Katherina Reiche and Friedrich Merz say we "can do a little less with renewables." Are they both aware that by doing so, they are jeopardizing jobs in the wind industry or the electrical trades ?

I haven't spoken to either of them yet, but I don't get the impression that this issue is a priority. Across Germany, 400,000 people work in the renewable energy sector. Added to that are small and micro-enterprises. A few years ago, under a Minister for the Environment and Economic Affairs, we saw what happens when the wrong signals are sent. Back then, the ugly phrase "electricity price brake" was circulating. It cost 100,000 jobs.

You mean Peter Altmaier?

Yes. I don't even want to think about those dimensions—partly because it's simply unnecessary. But I'm optimistic. Many bright minds in the energy industry are working to ensure that things don't slow down. We're a member of the German Association of the Energy and Water Industries (BDEW). The entire industry is represented there. The BDEW website states: Renewable energies are the cornerstone of our electricity supply. That's a consensus. This must also reach the government, and especially the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Change is needed, even if it sometimes hurts. If you look at what's happening in other countries, the federal government must be careful not to leave us behind.

Because the Altmaier slump is followed by the rich slump ?

I hope this term doesn't become socially acceptable. Katherina Reiche certainly doesn't want that to happen either. I can't imagine that happening either. We're on an incredibly good path. I've been doing this for 30 years; back then, people laughed at our one-megawatt plant and said: "That's the benchmark. You can't go any further." You can only achieve a maximum of five percent renewables in the electricity mix. Now we're at 60 percent. A tremendous amount is happening. And compared to the fossil fuel industry, we're still a young industry.

Clara Pfeffer and Christian Herrmann spoke with Heiko Wuttke. The conversation has been shortened and edited for clarity. You can listen to the full interview in the "Klima-Labor" podcast.