“Last call!”

Green Party Leader Calls for 100 New Wind Turbines Per Year

If the Green Party leader has her way, there will be 100 new wind turbines per year in Austria.(Bild: APA/Harald Schneider)

Due to the recent energy crisis caused by the war in the Middle East, expanding domestic energy supply is increasingly becoming a political priority. Green Party leader Leonore Gewessler therefore wants to “go all out for wind power” and is criticizing some federal states.

The government recently introduced the Renewable Energy Expansion Acceleration Act (EABG). Wind, solar, and hydroelectric power are to be expanded more quickly; the states are being given targets and threatened with penalties. “That’s not enough yet,” says Green Party leader and former Environment Minister Gewessler, referring to the law with which the government is attempting to achieve energy independence more quickly.

For Gewessler, the current energy price crisis is the final wake-up call: “We have to break free from these shackles.” But accelerating the expansion of renewables requires courage and determination. “Both are missing from the law: The targets are too short-sighted. The binding agreement between the federal government and the states is too lax,” Gewessler tells the governing parties ÖVP, SPÖ, and NEOS.

If the Green Party leader has her way, there will be 100 new wind turbines per year in Austria.(Bild: APA/Harald Schneider)

That is why the party leader is now calling for a nationwide expansion program for wind power: “We need 100 new wind turbines every year for Austria. So that we can produce our own energy and neither Putin nor Trump can dictate how high prices are in our country,” says Gewessler.

Greens Criticize Hesitant States
As is well known, some states still have no wind turbines at all—in Carinthia, a majority voted against the expansion of wind power on Carinthia’s mountains in a January 2025 referendum. Although the referendum was overturned by the Constitutional Court because the question was biased, this does nothing to change the fact that there is significant opposition to wind turbines in some regions of Austria. Tyrol, Vorarlberg, and Salzburg have also not yet embraced wind energy.

I expect the Energy Minister to forge a national consensus on this issue. The time for hesitation is over.

Grünen-Chefin Leonore Gewessler an Energieminister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP)

Bild: APA/Roland Schlager

Gewessler directs particularly sharp criticism at these federal states: “It’s the same old story every time: as soon as a concrete project is on the table, the FPÖ blocks it. And the ÖVP, but also the SPÖ, dutifully go along with it. That’s pseudo-patriotism. Anyone who blocks wind turbines today is responsible for tomorrow’s high energy prices!” the politician lashes out at the three parties. 

There are already over 3,400 megawatts of fully planned wind farm projects that just need to be implemented. “That’s several hundred wind turbines. So there are already enough finalized plans in place today for an expansion of 100 wind turbines per year,” says Gewessler.