Europe is on track for a record wind year, having installed 8.8GW of new wind power capacity in the first half of 2026, a 30 per cent increase on the first half of 2025.

The new capacity means it is on track for a record year and thanks to high installation activity over the summer, WindEurope now expects Europe to install 24GW of new capacity by the end of 2026. The wind industry is now at the start of an anticipated ramp-up phase towards consistently installing 30GW a year in the 2030s.

Installations over the first six months of 2026 were driven by Germany, which accounted for 3.4GW. But installations were also significantly up in Denmark, Poland, Portugal and France. Remarkably, Ukraine installed more than 400MW despite the ongoing war.

Germany also permitted more than 9GW of new onshore wind in the first six months of 2026, on track for another record year. But Germany is an outlier. Permitting volumes were down in Spain, France, the UK, Italy and Ireland.

According to WindEurope’s Autumn Report Europe invested €9bn in new wind farms in the first semester which will be built in the years to come. National Governments collectively awarded more than 17GW of wind capacity in auctions in the first half of 2026 and are set to tender an additional 26 GW in the second half of the year.

WindEurope now expects Europe to reach a total installed capacity of 436GW by 2030. 342GW of this would be in the EU, representing 27 per cent of EU electricity demand by 2030.

“2026 may well be a record wind year. But we can’t take that momentum for granted. Just when we need wind the most to boost Europe’s economic resilience, permitting volumes are down in key markets. Government decisions on permitting, auctions, grids and electrification in the coming months will make or break this momentum”, commented Tinne Van der Straeten, CEO of WindEurope.

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