Rough Wind From Husum

So he did just like the whole squad of German federal politicians - not one of them thought it necessary to come to Husum personally. But Schleswig-Holstein's chief politician, Daniel Günther (CDU), was present with his entire cabinet to demonstrate the importance of wind energy for his state. And he also made it clear in his welcoming speech that the wind motor had "come to a standstill", thanks to the current Berlin policy. It would be necessary to eliminate false incentives, introduce CO2 pricing in all sectors and not - as announced by the Federal Network Agency - cover grid expansion. "Schleswig-Holstein thinks this is wrong," he made clear.

In fact, it was an opening of the clear words: Only one week after the unsuccessful 'wind summit' with Federal Economics Minister Altmaier, also with the company representatives a lot had accumulated lately. Ove Petersen of GP Joule warned of the current development in the country, where more and more people were believing some fairy tale instead of relying on technology and science. Especially with regard to hydrogen technology and electric cars there was a lot of ignorance in the media, having supporters among politicians, too.

ENERCON CEO Hans-Dieter Kettwig put it even more drastically. He has come to Husum "with mixed feelings" because his company is very concerned about Germany as a business location. If there won't be a quick change in politics, jobs will be relocated from Germany to other countries. ENERCON is currently trying to keep all jobs, but even the country's largest turbine manufacturer will eventually have its hands tied.

He was backed by Schleswig-Holstein's Environment Minister Jan Philipp Albrecht (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), who stated that by the end of the year 40,000 jobs would be lost in Germany if the climate cabinet meeting on 20 September didn't intervene accordingly and take far-reaching decisions. He made it clear that the federal states were currently lacking room for manoeuvre - the ideas are there, the technology is there, but the decisive policy is made in Berlin and capped there.

Meanwhile, it seems unclear who Berlin is still making politics for. Hermann Albers, President of the BWE (Federation of German Wind Energy), stressed that the federation had received support of other major branches of industry at the past 'wind summit', even including the automobile industry - one of Germany's largest employers.

Thus a rough wind is blowing in Husum. The next few days will show whether the fair can send a strong signal to Berlin.