Renewables | Worry about the energy transition going backwards

Saxony-Anhalt is one of the frontrunners in the energy transition in Germany. Photo: dpa/Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert The renewable energy industry is worried that the outcome of the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt will set back the expansion of solar and wind energy. The formation of a government by the AfD would “massively jeopardize the further success of the energy transition,” warned Ursula Heinen-Esser, President of the Federal Association of Renewable Energy (BEE). Renewables have already secured 26,000 jobs in Saxony-Anhalt and represent regional added value of more than 170 million euros. “Anyone who slows down this sector of the economy makes future investments more difficult and puts jobs and prosperity at risk,” she said.

The AfD, which won almost 44 percent of the vote on Sunday, has announced a "180 degree turnaround in energy policy," as it says in its government program for the state elections. Although she missed the absolute majority of seats in parliament. But the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance, which narrowly entered the state parliament, could help it gain majorities on individual projects - including a backward-looking energy policy. Even if both parties are not aiming for a coalition, BSW's top candidate Thomas Schulze was open to talks with the AfD. In addition to Russia policy, he also mentioned the goal of “inexpensive energy” as a political “intersection” between the two parties.

Saxony-Anhalt is one of the pioneers of the energy transition. Renewable energies would already cover around 83 percent of gross electricity consumption in 2023, while in the federal government it was only around half. At the end of 2025, around 2,760 wind turbines with an installed capacity of almost 5,800 megawatts were in operation there. Last year, a net 269 megawatts were added - the highest increase in ten years. Photovoltaics achieved a similarly high nominal output of around 5,800 megawatts. In 2025, more than 23,000 new solar systems were connected to the grid, including 88 solar parks.

The AfD wants to largely stop the energy transition. She calls for financial support and feed-in priority for renewables to be removed. An AfD government would impose a moratorium on wind power and not approve any new systems "until further notice."

The party rejects solar parks on farmland. The state law on the financial participation of municipalities in new wind and solar parks should also be removed. The AfD calls such payments an attempt to “blackmail unruly municipalities.” She also wants to abolish the State Energy Agency, or Lena for short - it supports municipalities in implementing energy saving and sustainable energy supply projects.

Instead, the party relies on coal, natural gas and nuclear power. The Schkopau brown coal power plant near Halle, which is due to be shut down at the end of 2034 in accordance with current federal law, is to be operated for longer, and new gas power plants are also to be built.

The AfD wants to achieve an end to the Russia sanctions and new energy imports through the Federal Council. Among other things, the still intact section of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline is to be used. The party is also aiming for a return to nuclear energy – although the country has no legislative authority to do so. The closure date for Schkopau is also set in a federal law.

The BSW takes a very similar, but not identical, line. The party criticizes the exit from natural gas and nuclear energy as hasty, wants to preserve lignite for the time being and research new reactor technologies. Like the AfD, she is demanding an end to the Russia sanctions.

Unlike the AfD, however, the BSW declares renewable energies to be “indispensable”. Solar and wind power should be expanded in a “moderate, planned and secure supply” manner, accompanied by the expansion of networks and storage. Photovoltaics should primarily be installed on roofs and sealed surfaces. Systems in fields should be limited and wind turbines in forests should be excluded. However, the BSW also wants to abolish the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) - the promotion of green energies should be replaced by investment subsidies. 

Since many of the measures mentioned fall within the competence of the federal government, a drastic backward role in the energy transition would not be possible immediately. However, a federal state has considerable influence due to its responsibilities in regional planning, area designation and approvals. It can cancel state funding programs and start initiatives through the Federal Council. A blanket wind power moratorium in Saxony-Anhalt is likely to collide with federal law, but an AfD-led state government could delay projects through restrictive planning and administration and ultimately make them uneconomical.

Meanwhile, the environmental association BUND has announced resistance to attacks on the energy transition: “We will object decisively if the protection of nature and the climate is to be pushed back, the energy transition is to be stopped or our work as an environmental association is to be restricted,” said the Saxony-Anhalt state leader Ralf Meyer. This requires a strong and self-confident democratic civil society. According to Meyer, the BUND stands on the side of all people in Saxony-Anhalt who are committed to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the natural basis of life.

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