Thursday 13 September 2018

Europe to install 87GW of new wind capacity by 2022

The capacity of new wind farms to be installed over the next four years in Europe is forecast to total 87GW.

That’s according to latest figures from WindEurope, which suggests wind energy capacity could grow by 17GW a year during that period.

Europe is expected to see total installed capacity of 258GW over the next four years, with most of the new installations to be onshore wind at 70.4GW - offshore wind is forecast at 16.5GW.

The trade body adds even larger turbines will help drive this growth, with more than 4MW and 8MW turbines now becoming the norm in onshore and offshore wind respectively.

Germany is expected to remain the country with the most wind installations – 73GW in 2022, followed by Spain with 30GW and the UK with 26GW.

However, Germany’s share of new installations is forecast to fall from 40% on average in the last five years to 24% while Spain and Sweden is to see “strong growth” next year.

Globally, Europe is to account for 25% of wind energy installations in 2022.