Günther sees energy transition in Saxony on the right track

Saxony's Energy Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) believes that the state has made good progress in climate protection and the energy transition. "The future will be climate-neutral. Period," he stated when taking stock of his work since 2019. "We have managed to change course in this legislature." Carbon dioxide (C02) emissions have fallen by a third since the start of 2019. After all, lignite is the largest producer of CO2 and is responsible for two thirds of emissions.

Günther admitted that one of the targets in the coalition agreement will not be met by the time a new Saxon state parliament is elected, according to the figures. Originally, Saxony had wanted to achieve an additional four terawatt hours of electricity generation from renewable energies within five years. However, the agreed target is already "very concretely on the horizon" thanks to the plans. By the end of the year, the increase in the photovoltaic sector alone will be 3.4 terawatt hours. Up to 2.2 terawatt hours are planned for wind power.

Greens had to fight resistance within the coalition

According to Günther, his party had to fight hard for the energy and climate protection program, which is why it was delayed by a year. This made the resistance within the coalition clear. In the case of wind power, a "skid mark" had to be removed. The old conditions were designed to prevent this. By 2021, there had been a de facto reduction in turbines and output in the wind power sector. "We have stopped this and since then there has been an increase in renewables."

According to Günther, the number of photovoltaic systems in Saxony has tripled since 2019 and their output has doubled. It has been possible to get the population on board. He cited around 12,000 balcony power plants funded by the Free State as evidence of this. "We wanted to turn people into participants in the energy transition."

Powerful wind turbines in the approval process

Günther is convinced that Saxony will achieve the designation of two percent of the state's land area for wind turbines by 2027, as required by federal legislation. The federal government had only set a target of 1.4 percent by 2027. Günther said that the planning authorities had been strengthened in terms of personnel to achieve this.

According to the ministry's statistics, 139 wind turbines with a capacity of 882 megawatts are currently in the approval process in Saxony. If all of these plants were to go into operation, they would be able to supply around 800,000 to 1,000,000 average private households - as many as the cities of Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig combined.

The minister admitted that there is still resistance to wind power plants. However, acceptance is increasing, partly because local authorities can now benefit financially. Politically, the expansion of wind power should be controlled and planned in order to minimize conflicts of interest with residents and nature.