Brandenburg wants its wind and solar parks, which will secure the power supply after the phase-out of lignite, to be produced primarily for its own consumption. This emerges from the new Energy Strategy 2040 and the state’s climate plan, which were presented on Wednesday by the Ministers Jörg Steinbach (Economy, SPD) and Axel Vogel (Environment, Greens) after they had been passed by the cabinet made up of the SPD, CDU and Greens.
In it, the government sets targets to make the country carbon neutral by 2045, reducing greenhouse gas emissions (currently 53.1 million tons annually) to zero. “We’re moving forward nationwide,” emphasized Vogel. No other federal state has so far formulated such stringent goals.
Vogel emphasized that there was agreement in the coalition “contrary to all prophecies of doom”. Reforestation and waterlogging of dried-out moors are also necessary. Steinbach said that the energy transition and climate protection cannot be postponed until after the Ukraine war has been resolved. “That would definitely be the wrong way. You have to do both at the same time.”
“In the future, Brandenburg aims to ensure that the electricity generated here is also primarily consumed in the state,” says the 78-page template. So far, 60 percent of the electricity produced here, primarily in the lignite-fired power plants in Lusatia, has been exported and also secures Berlin’s power supply, for example.
In accordance with the applicable federal law, both strategies assume that coal will be phased out by 2038, although the Greens want to bring this forward to 2030 if possible. In order to achieve the goals, Brandenburg is relying on a massive reduction in primary energy consumption by 2040 (compared to 2007) by 39 percent. Steinbach’s remark that the energy saving targets of the previous Energy Strategy 2030 were clearly missed showed how difficult this will be.
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Above all, however, the expansion of wind power and solar energy, in which Brandenburg is one of the leading states nationwide, should be further promoted. The draft of the Energy Strategy 2040, which was only presented at the beginning of the year, has been corrected upwards in both expansion targets.
This now means that by 2040 wind turbines with a generating capacity of 15 gigawatts should produce electricity. The currently around 3,900 wind turbines in the country create 7.5 gigawatts. It is planned that by 2032 – this is a federal requirement – at least 2.2 percent of the state area will be kept free for wind farms, currently it is 1.6 percent.
How many wind turbines there will be in 2040 is an open question. In the new wind power target, a share of three gigawatts is earmarked for the production of green hydrogen. In the case of photovoltaics, which has so far contributed 4.5 gigawatts, systems with 18 gigawatts are to be installed by 2030 and even 33 gigawatts by 2040. A solar roof program will also be necessary for this, for example for halls, said Steinbach. “We make sure not to plaster the landscape with photovoltaic systems.”
