European wind accelerates: 2026 could be a record year with 24 GW of new installations expected

European wind power accelerates and 2026 could become a record year. In the first six months, 8.8 GW of new capacity were installed, 30% more than in the same period in 2025. A pace that pushed WindEurope to forecast 24 GW of new installations for the entire year.

Driving the growth is above all onshore wind, which represented 74% of new installations, with 6.5 GW. Germany dominates the ranking with 3.4 GW, followed by the United Kingdom with 789 MW and Spain with 612 MW.

WindEurope calculates that the new capacity that came into operation in the semester can produce enough electricity to power around 7 million European families and replace fossil fuel imports equivalent to the load of 25 LNG tankers every year.

Positive signals are also coming from auctions. In the first half of the year, five European countries awarded incentives for 17.2 GW of new wind capacity: 8.8 GW onshore and 8.4 GW offshore. In the second half of the year, governments plan to tender over 24 additional GW.

If on schedule, 2026 will see the highest volume of new wind capacity ever auctioned in Europe.

On the financial front, in the first six months, 9 billion euros were raised for new projects, sufficient resources to finance 5.2 GW of capacity that will be installed in the coming years: 4.5 GW onshore and approximately 0.6 GW offshore.

However, there is an indicator that calls for caution. Final turbine orders stood at 10.6 GW, of which 7.8 GW for onshore plants and 2.8 GW offshore. The figure is down 12% compared to the 12 GW ordered in the first half of 2025.

However, WindEurope considers 2026 to be the start of an acceleration phase which should lead the industry to steadily install around 30 GW per year over the 2030s.

Between 2026 and 2030, the new installations are expected to bring overall capacity to 436 GW in Europe, of which 342 GW in the European Union. Wind power would thus be able to satisfy around 27% of the EU's electricity demand by 2030.

The main obstacle, however, remains that of authorizations. Germany, after the application of the new European permitting rules, authorized more than 9 GW of new onshore wind power in the first six months of the year.

But the German case remains an exception. Authorized volumes have decreased in Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland, creating the risk of a slowdown in installations in the coming years.

“2026 could indeed be a record year, but we cannot take for granted that this momentum will continue,” warns Tinne Van der Straeten, CEO of WindEurope. Decisions in the coming months on permits, auctions, networks and electrification will be crucial to maintaining the pace.