Europe installed 17 GW (11 GW in the EU-27) of new wind capacity in 2021. This is not even half of what the EU should be building to be on tract to deliver its 2030 Climate and Energy goals. 81% of the new wind installation in Europe last year were onshore wind. Sweden, Germany, and Turkey built the most onshore wind. The UK had the highest total new wind installations, because they account for most of the new offshore wind installations. Europe now has 236 GW of wind capacity.

We expect Europe to install 116 GW of new wind farms over the period from 2022-2026. Three quarters of these new capacity additions will be onshore wind. We expect the EU-27 to build on average 18 GW of new wind farms between 2022-26. They need to build 32 GW a year in order to meet the EU’s new 40% renewable energy target.

1. In 2021 new wind installations in Europe amounted to just 17.4 GW (14 GW onshore and 3.4 GW offshore) as permit¬ting bottlenecks and global supply chain issues continue to delay the commissioning of new wind farms. While 2021 stands as a record year for installations (surpass¬ing the 17.1 GW figure for 2017), they were 11% lower than forecasted.

2.The countries with the most new installed capacity were the UK, Sweden, Germany, Turkey and the Netherlands in that order. Sweden installed most new onshore wind (2.1 GW). The UK installed most new offshore wind (2.3 GW).

3.WindEurope expects Europe to install 116 GW of new wind farms over the period from 2022-2026. That’s 23 GW a year on average. Three quarters of these new capacity additions will be onshore wind. We expect the EU-27 to build on average 18 GW of new wind farms over the same period. That more than in previous years but still far too low. They need to build 32 GW a year in order to meet the EU’s new 40% renewable energy target.

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Source:WindEurope