AfD on climate and energy

The AfD wants to abolish the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and the grid priority it gives wind and solar power. It disputes that humans influence the climate through CO2 and wants to end the transformation set out in the Climate Action Plan 2050. The stated goal is a stable, affordable and secure energy supply.

The AfD wants to scrap the law on renewable energy. Wind and solar power should no longer come first in the grid. The AfD does not believe humans change the climate. It wants cheap and secure electricity.

The platform calls abolishing the EEG the core demand of its energy policy. Existing contracts for wind and solar installations would be protected through special rules. The AfD blames the EEG, the sanctions on Russian raw materials, and the exit from coal and nuclear power for high electricity prices and dependence on imports. It considers further expansion of wind and solar technically pointless because large-scale storage is lacking. In its view, there is no need for the law to favor these sources over nuclear, coal and gas.

The AfD wants to tie new wind turbines and large solar installations to strict conditions and withdraw Saxony's land-area target for wind power. Turbines would have to keep a distance of ten times their height from homes. The party cites environmental and health protection as its reasons.

The AfD wants fewer new wind turbines in Saxony. Turbines should stand far away from homes. Saxony should no longer set aside 2 percent of its land for wind power. There should be no turbines in forests.

New wind turbines of 1 MW or more and solar installations of 100 kW or more could only be built with storage able to deliver their rated output for at least seven days. Operators of new turbines would have to set aside funds for full dismantling, including foundations. The AfD wants to prevent solar installations on farmland and turbines in forests and nature reserves, and to protect state-owned forest. The goal of providing two percent of the state's area for wind power by 2027 would be dropped. Through the Bundesrat, the party wants the federal "Wind an Land" (onshore wind) law repealed.

The AfD wants to undo the decision to phase out coal power by 2038. Saxony's lignite power plants and the open-pit mines near Leipzig and in Lusatia would keep operating as long as, in the party's view, there is no competitive alternative.

Germany plans to stop using coal by 2038. The AfD wants to cancel this plan. The coal power plants in Saxony should keep running. The coal mines should stay open too.

The platform ties continued lignite use to three conditions: no competitive replacement exists that can supply baseload and be regulated, coal remains profitable, and local residents agree to mining and to new open-pit mines. The AfD cites positive experience with restoring former mines, such as Lake Berzdorf, as support. It also wants to keep all existing power plants.

The AfD wants to examine whether new gas-fired and new nuclear power plants can be built in Saxony. Germany's shut-down nuclear plants should be restarted where technically possible. The stated goal is an energy mix with affordable electricity prices.

The AfD wants to look into new gas power plants in Saxony. It also wants to look into new nuclear power plants. Old nuclear plants in Germany should run again if that is possible. The party says this will make power cheaper.

The review would cover both possible sites and the technical conditions for new nuclear plants in Saxony. The AfD would push nationwide for restarting existing reactors. Electricity prices should be set by the marginal costs of low-cost producers; for nuclear power the platform cites 2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, including final storage and dismantling.

The AfD wants to preserve Saxony's ability to supply itself with electricity. It plans grid disconnectors on the extra-high-voltage network at the state's borders and wants to keep and expand pumped-storage power plants.

Saxony should be able to make all its own power. The AfD wants to be able to cut off the power grid at the state border. Then Saxony still has power if the grid fails elsewhere. Pumped-storage plants should stay and grow. These plants store power using water.

The disconnectors would let Saxony run on its own power plants if the grid collapses elsewhere in Germany. In a power shortage, the AfD would give priority to people in Saxony; when variable sources produce too much, it would protect the grids. Pumped-storage plants such as Niederwartha would be kept and expanded because they cushion peak loads and can restart the grid after an outage. The party also wants an estimate of how much extra electricity air-source heat pumps would need.

The AfD wants to push at the federal level to scrap taxes and levies that make energy more expensive, including carbon pricing. No replacement is planned. The party regards these charges as ideologically motivated.

There are taxes and fees on energy. One of them is the CO2 tax. The AfD wants to get rid of these charges. Nothing should replace them. The party says energy will then cost less.

The demand is aimed at the federal level because the state cannot abolish these charges itself. According to the platform, it covers charges introduced for climate policy and to implement the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG). The AfD's aim is lower energy prices.

The AfD rejects state rules on heating technology and insulation and does not want to implement the Gebäudeenergiegesetz (Building Energy Act) passed in 2023 in Saxony. Builders should weigh for themselves how much to invest in saving energy.

The Building Energy Act sets rules for heating and insulation. The AfD rejects this law. It does not want to apply it in Saxony. People should decide for themselves which heating system they install.

According to the platform, insulation standards make building and renovating so expensive that owners and tenants with average incomes cannot cope. The AfD calls the rules on replacing heating systems and on new buildings the biggest obstacle to investment in housing. It considers rules disproportionate when their costs far exceed the savings achieved. The rejection also applies to comparable laws.

The AfD wants an independent national research and funding policy that does not depend on the topics funded by the EU. It would mainly support basic research on new energy and reactor technologies, including at Saxony's universities.

The AfD wants Germany to decide on its own research. Research should not depend on the EU. There should be more research on new energy technology. This includes new kinds of nuclear reactors. Universities in Saxony should get money for this.

The platform names the dual fluid reactor as an example of reactor technology the party considers inherently safe. EU subsidies should go to research rather than to energy generation. The AfD points out that new nuclear plants are being built abroad and that Germany used to lead in this field. It also wants to encourage a university chair in Saxony to study the effects of wind and solar installations on climate and nature.

The AfD wants to build gas storage facilities in Saxony that cover at least 72 hours of consumption. It argues that Saxony can currently draw only on two storage sites in Saxony-Anhalt.

The AfD wants to build gas storage in Saxony. The gas should last for at least 72 hours. So far the storage sites are in Saxony-Anhalt. This is meant to make supply safer.

The new storage sites are meant to secure natural gas supply for the population. According to the program, people in Saxony currently have access only to two VNG AG storage facilities in the neighboring state. In addition, disconnection points to other federal states are to be built into the gas grid.