The European Union has built 17 GW of new wind energy in 2023, with 3 GW of new capacity coming from offshore wind farms.
The WindEurope data shows that Germany built the most new wind capacity followed by the Netherlands and Sweden. The Netherlands built the most new offshore wind, including the 1.5 GW Hollandse Kust Zuid – for now the world’s largest wind farm.
The 2023 numbers are slightly up from those in 2022, and are the highest ever in a single year so far. The renewable energy source accounted for 19% of all electricity produced in Europe last year.
But according to WindEurope, this is not enough to reach the EU’s 2030 targets, as it should be building 30 GW of new wind every year between now and 2030 to meet them.
The actions set out in the EU Wind Power Package and European Wind Charter will help increase the annual build-out, however, national implementation is key, the industry association said.
The IEA estimates that Europe will build 23 GW a year of new wind over 2024-28 period.
Crucial actions to boost the wind build-out across Europe include further simplification of permitting, improvements in the design of the auctions to build new wind farms and public financial support for wind turbine manufacturing and key infrastructure.