Germany must streamline permitting procedures and remove administrative barriers to wind projects, the sector urged after new onshore wind installations last year plunged more than the industry had feared.

Net additions for wind on land in 2018 fell to 2.15GW in Europe’s largest onshore wind market, less than half of the 4.87GW registered in 2017, according to data by Deutsche WindGuard commissioned by Germany’s wind energy federation BWE and the VDMA Power Systems group that represents manufacturers.