Published on 27 February 2025
Overview
Europe now has 285 GW of wind power capacity, 248 GW onshore and 37 GW offshore. The EU-27 accounts for 231 GW of the total installed capacity, 210 GW onshore and 21 GW offshore.
We expect Europe to install 187 GW of new wind power capacity over 2025-2030. The EU-27 should install 140 GW of this – 23 GW a year on average. This would bring total installations in Europe and the EU to 450 GW and 351 GW respectively by 2030. To meet the EU’s 42.5% renewable energy target, installations in the EU would need to reach 425 GW by 2030.
Sustained wind deployment in the EU during the 2030s would allow wind to almost quadruple its output by 2040 compared with today.
Findings
Europe installed 16.4 GW of new wind capacity in 2024 (gross installations). Onshore wind made up 84% of new installations for a total of 13.8 GW. The EU-27 installed 12.9 GW of new capacity. 89% of this was onshore (11.5 GW).
Germany (4 GW) built the most new capacity last year, thanks to its rapid ongoing onshore wind expansion. After Germany, the UK (1.9 GW) and France (1.7 GW) built the most new capacity. All three countries installed new capacity onshore and offshore.
The capital raised for new wind projects in Europe was €33bn in 2024. This financed 19.9 GW of new capacity which will be installed over the next few years.
Denmark had the highest share of wind in their electricity mix with 56%. Ireland (33%), Sweden (31%), Germany (30%) and the UK (30%) were the other countries where the share of wind in the electricity mixed at least 30%. Wind met at least 20% of electricity demand in another six countries, the Netherlands (29%), Portugal (28%), Lithuania (27%), Spain (25%), Finland (24%), and Greece (22%).
We anticipate installations over 2025-2030 to take the EU to 351 GW by the 2030. The EU 2030 target is 425 GW. We also see Europe's installed wind power capacity reaching 450 GW over the same timeframe.
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