Europe Adds 19 GW Wind in 2025, But Power Market, ETS Reforms Pose Risks

Wind energy added 19 GW of new wind energy capacity in Europe in 2025. The new additions took total wind energy capacity to 304 GW in Europe.

Recent data by WindEurope reveals that Europe invested €45bn in additional wind energy projects to be built over the next few years. But factors like political considerations to reform the EU electricity market design and to renegotiate the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) threaten to undermine this progress, according to WindEurope’s Annual Statistics Report.

On the latest set of numbers, WindEurope CEO Tinne van der Straeten said, “Europe’s wind industry is stepping up to the task. In 2025, the industry invested €45bn to make Europe more competitive and secure. But politicians considering tampering with the EU electricity market design and the architecture of the EU ETS directly undermine these investments. Changing the rules of the game now would be waving goodbye to competitiveness and energy security.” 

Installation Trends

WindEurope also noted that Germany built most new capacity (5.2 GW), followed by Türkiye (2.1 GW), Sweden (1.8 GW), and Spain (1.6 GW). The research also found that onshore wind remained the driving force behind last year’s expansion, comprising of 90% of new installed capacity on land. 

2025 marked a record year according to the research, with more than 17 GW of new onshore wind capacity added in this period, with 2 GW of repowering in this figure. Onshore wind installations were fairly spread across Europe, with 9 countries installing more than 500 MW.

Lithuania, as noted, stood out, installing 759 MW to increase its total capacity by over 40%. Wind covered 33% of Lithuania’s electricity demand in 2025, empowering the Baltic country at the front line with Russia to decouple from Russia’s power grid and be less dependent on Russian fossil fuel imports.

Over the same period, Europe connected 2 GW of new offshore wind capacity to the grid, the lowest installation figure since 2016. WindEurope found this to be a part due to construction delays and expects a catch-up effect in 2026. Only three countries connected new offshore wind turbines: the UK, Germany, and France.

Outlook for 2026-2030

WIndEurope predicts  151 GW of new wind energy over the 2026-2030 period. 112 GW of those will be in the EU. More than a third of this EU build-out will come from the flourishing German onshore wind market. Most other EU countries are facing serious challenges to the expansion of wind energy:

However, insufficient electricity grid build-out and grid connection queues remain the number one bottlenecks. 

WindEurope also pointed out insufficient effort from the governments to electrify industry, mobility, and heating. This is leading to slow electrification uptake, which in turn is undermining the business case for new wind, and it urgesthe  EU’s upcoming Electrification Action Plan to address this. 

It also reccomends to focus on “low hanging fruits” such as low- and medium-temperature industrial heat applications which can be electrified with commercially available technologies such as heat pumps and electric boilers. More broadly, the EU and Member States must do more to de-risk electrification investments and reduce non-energy-related taxes and levies on electricity.

Permitting: The EU has put forward measures to accelerate the permitting of new wind projects under the Renewable Energy Directive. But most Member States are dragging their feed. In fact, permitting is worsening rather than improving in most Member States. The Commission has initiated infringement procedures against 26 of 27 EU Member States for failing to implement these measures. In times of declining industrial competitiveness and high power prices these delays are unacceptable.