In 2025, Europe witnessed a significant increase in wind power capacity, adding 19.1 GW overall, with the European Union contributing 15.1 GW. This expansion was predominantly driven by onshore projects, which accounted for approximately 90% of the new installations. By year-end, Europe’s total wind capacity reached 304 GW, with land-based turbines making up 87% of this figure. Within the EU, installed capacity rose to 246 GW, with an impressive 91% being onshore.
The net additions were somewhat tempered by the dismantling of nearly 1 GW of aging wind facilities; however, the commissioning of around 2 GW from repowered projects resulted in effective net growth of 18.2 GW. Despite this growth, overall wind electricity generation in the EU decreased slightly compared to 2024, totaling 465 TWh, which is about 10 TWh less than the previous year. This decline is attributed to weaker wind conditions, particularly in the early months, yet wind energy continued to fulfill 19% of the EU’s electricity demand, consistent with prior years.
Germany led the charge in new installations with an addition of approximately 5.7 GW, which included 503 MW from offshore projects, elevating its total operational capacity to 77.7 GW. Following Germany were Spain and the United Kingdom, contributing 33.2 GW and 32.9 GW, respectively. Notably, half of the UK’s capacity is derived from offshore sources. Other significant players include France, Sweden, and Turkey, collectively accounting for about two-thirds of Europe’s total wind capacity.
The pace of offshore development saw a marked slowdown in 2025, with only 1.96 GW connected to the grid—the lowest annual addition since 2016—primarily due to construction delays. The UK, Germany, and France were the only countries to expand their offshore fleets during this period, although a recovery is anticipated for 2026.
Southeastern Europe demonstrated robust performance in wind energy deployment, particularly in Turkey, which commissioned 2.1 GW of new onshore capacity, raising its total to 15.9 GW. Projections suggest that Turkey could add another 10.9 GW by 2030, potentially surpassing 26 GW. Greece added 340 MW, reaching a total of 5.7 GW, while Romania and Serbia also made strides with additions of 330 MW(3.5 GW total) and 199 MW(807 MW total), respectively. In terms of wind energy’s contribution to electricity demand, Greece leads at 21%, followed closely by Croatia at 17%, with both Turkey and Romania meeting around 11%.
The outlook for Europe’s wind energy sector remains optimistic, with WindEurope forecasting an additional installation of approximately 151 GWby 2030, bringing total capacity close to 439 GW —with about 77% expected to be onshore. For the EU specifically, an estimated 112 GW of new installations will elevate total capacity to around 343 GW —falling short of the official target of 425 GW . In 2025 alone, the EU is projected to add around 19 GW while Europe as a whole could see an increase of about 25 GW .
Repowering will increasingly influence future developments as approximately 16 GW of existing wind farms are expected to retire by 2030. It is anticipated that roughly half of this retired capacity will be replaced by upgraded projects totaling around 17 GW , while about 8 GW will be permanently dismantled. This modernization process typically results in a tripling of electricity output while reducing turbine numbers by approximately one-third.
