Europe installed 19.1 GW of new wind power capacity in 2025, according to a report by WindEurope. The continent’s cumulative installed wind capacity reached 304 GW by the end of 2025, consisting of 265 GW of onshore and 39 GW of offshore wind capacity.

The European Union (EU) installed 15.1 GW of new wind capacity, with such projects accounting for roughly 19% of the region’s electricity consumption during the year.

Onshore wind continued to dominate the European market, accounting for 17.2 GW or 90% of new installations in 2025.

Offshore wind installations remained significantly smaller, with only 2 GW installed across Europe, including 0.9 GW within the EU.

Despite lower installation volumes, offshore wind projects feature larger turbines and higher generation output.

The average turbine rating for offshore projects in 2025 reached approximately 10.7 MW, while the average rating for onshore projects across Europe was around 5.2 MW. Offshore wind farms are also expected to achieve capacity factors of roughly 50%, compared with 25% to 40% for onshore projects.

Auctions, Investments, and Project Financing

Government auctions remained the primary mechanism for allocating new wind projects across Europe. In 2025, European governments awarded a total of 29.4 GW of wind capacity through auctions held in ten countries.

Of this capacity, 22.6 GW was allocated to onshore and 6.8 GW to offshore wind projects. The total auction volume was lower than the 36.6 GW awarded in 2024, largely due to delays in the UK’s Contracts for Difference allocation process.

The UK announced results from its Allocation Round 7 in early 2026, awarding 9.7 GW of wind capacity.

Investment activity in Europe’s wind sector was significant during 2025, with total capital commitments reaching €45 billion (~$52.06 billion) for new wind farms, financing 20.9 GW of new capacity.

Onshore wind projects attracted €22.8 billion (~$26.38 billion) in investment and financed 15.5 GW of capacity. Offshore projects secured €22.5 billion (~$26.03 billion) investment for 5.4 GW of new wind capacity.

WindEurope stated that the near-equal investment volumes for onshore and offshore projects underscored the substantially higher costs of offshore wind development. Large offshore projects also tend to reach final investment decisions in fewer but larger transactions each year due to their scale.

Manufacturing and supply-chain investments are also expanding as the sector grows. Approximately €15 billion (~$17.35 billion) in new investments have been announced since 2022 to expand wind manufacturing capacity in Europe.

Around 70% of these investments were focused on offshore wind supply chains, 23% supported both offshore and onshore segments, and 7% targeted onshore-specific manufacturing activities.

Financial support structures for manufacturers included a €5 billion (~$5.78 billion) counter-guarantee program from the European Investment Bank designed to help turbine manufacturers secure bank guarantees.

Technology Development

WindEurope highlighted a shift toward larger turbines with greater rotor diameters, higher hub heights, and higher per-unit nameplate capacities. These developments are expected to improve generation efficiency and capacity factors, allowing wind farms to produce more electricity from fewer turbines.

Repowering, which involves replacing older wind turbines with newer, more efficient machines at existing sites, is also emerging as a significant segment within the wind industry.

Approximately 2 GW of wind capacity was repowered across Europe in 2025, while roughly 0.9 GW of older turbines were decommissioned. Repowering is expected to contribute significantly to future capacity upgrades as more early-generation wind farms reach the end of their operational lifetimes.

Employment Growth

Wind industry employment spans multiple stages of the value chain, including project development and management, manufacturing, installation, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning.

In 2024, manufacturing accounted for the largest share of employment in the sector, with approximately 100,100 direct jobs across Europe.

The wind energy industry employed approximately 484,700 workers in 2025, rising from 442,800 in 2024. The industry is expected to employ about 607,000 workers by 2030.

Regional Performance

Wind deployment in Europe remains concentrated in a small number of leading markets. Germany installed the highest wind capacity in 2025 with 5.2 GW, making it the continent’s largest onshore wind market.

Türkiye and Sweden ranked second and third, installing 2.1 GW and 1.8 GW, respectively. Spain came in fourth, adding 1.6 GW during the year. Germany, France, and the UK were the only countries installing both onshore and offshore wind capacity in 2025.

Wind energy already provides a large share of electricity in several European countries. Denmark generated roughly 50% of its electricity from wind power. Lithuania and Ireland each sourced about 33% of their electricity from wind projects. Wind energy made up around 31% of the UK’s power mix and approximately 30% of Sweden’s.

Wind Deployment Challenges

Despite continued expansion, several structural barriers continue to limit the pace of wind deployment. Permitting delays remained a major issue across many European countries, slowing project approvals and construction timelines.

Grid infrastructure constraints also limited the ability to connect new wind farms to the electricity system. WindEurope noted that more than 500 GW of wind projects are currently waiting in grid connection queues across Europe.

Additional challenges during the year included supply chain pressures, financing risks for large offshore projects, and lower-than-expected electricity demand growth, which temporarily reduced the urgency to expand capacity rapidly.

Outlook for 2030

Europe is expected to add approximately 151 GW of new wind capacity between 2026 and 2030, averaging about 30 GW per year.

This growth would increase Europe’s total installed wind capacity to 439 GW by 2030, including 366 GW of onshore and 73 GW of offshore wind capacity.

Installations within the EU are projected to reach approximately 112 GW during the same period, averaging roughly 22 GW annually. This would bring the EU’s total wind capacity to approximately 343 GW by 2030.

However, this projection falls short of the EU’s official policy target of 425 GW by the end of the decade, leaving an estimated gap of approximately 82 GW.

Onshore wind is expected to account for most new installations through 2030, representing about 77% of total additions and contributing approximately 117 GW of new capacity. Offshore wind is projected to add roughly 34 GW during the same period.

While offshore projects offer higher capacity factors and large-scale generation potential, their growth has remained constrained by higher project costs, long development timelines, supply chain pressures, and financing complexities.

WindEurope’s report concludes that wind power will remain a central component of Europe’s energy transition. However, accelerating deployment will depend heavily on faster permitting processes, expanded grid infrastructure, stable auction frameworks, and stronger policy support for manufacturing and supply chains.

In 2021, Europe installed 1.3 GW of new offshore wind capacity in the first half of 2021, according to WindEurope, a Brussels-based association promoting wind energy in Europe.