Global wind energy capacity installations hit a new record while the UK recorded the best year for wind power generation in 2024. Yet, global policy uncertainties have spiked with a new US Administration not favouring offshore wind energy, anxiety about where the global economy is headed amid trade and tariff rows, and how these protectionist policies will impact the wind energy supply chain.
Record Wind Power Installations
Despite heightened uncertainties for the wind energy sector that began with rising interest rates and supply chain woes in 2023, the industry installed a record-breaking 117 gigawatts (GW) of wind power capacity in 2024, The Global Wind Energy Council’s flagship Global Wind Report 2025 showed.
With 117 GW installed last year, wind power advanced into new geographies and consolidated its position as a core pillar of the global energy transition, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said.
However, the momentum from 2024 is not enough to deliver the full benefits of wind energy. Wind deployment must scale rapidly in the next few years to align with COP28’s agreement to triple global renewable capacity by 2030, GWEC noted.
Last year saw 109 GW of new onshore wind and 8 GW of offshore wind capacity installed globally. This brings the global cumulative capacity of wind energy to 1,136 GW, spread across all continents. As many as 55 countries installed wind turbines last year, the report said.
Unsurprisingly, China led the way for new installations in 2024 ahead of the US, Germany, India, and Brazil. Those same five markets now make up the top five for total installations, as of the end of 2024, with Brazil moving past Spain.
Other regions also saw record growth, highlighting the advance of wind power installations globally. Wind installations grew by 7 percent in 2024 compared to 2023, while Africa and the Middle East region saw a 107% jump in new capacity, thanks to Egypt installing 794 MW and Saudi Arabia’s 390 MW. North America, Latin America, and Europe experienced a decline in new installations compared with 2023.
The report forecasts a compound average growth rate of 8.8 percent for the wind industry, which means another 981 GW of wind energy capacity across the globe by 2030.
“Wind is among the cheapest sources of energy in the world and one of the two sources of renewable energy that make up 95% of all global renewable capacity growth in this decade. It can offer high-quality power to consumers with a heavy baseload and ensure grid stability,” said Girish Tanti, Deputy CEO of Suzlon Group and Vice Chair of GWEC.
“Tripling renewables and phasing out fossil fuels are the most viable solutions to combat climate change, but we must act now. There is no Planet B, and it is our responsibility to protect those most affected by the perils of global warming.”
But the growth rate needs to surge further to meet the 2030 goal of tripling renewable energy capacity.
“Once again, the wind industry has broken new installation records, despite more challenging macroeconomic headwinds over the last few years,” said Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC.
“While wind energy continues to drive investment and jobs, improve energy security and lower consumer costs, we are seeing a more volatile policy environment in some parts of the world, including ideologically driven attacks on wind and renewables and the halting of under construction projects, threatening investment certainty.”
According to Backwell, “the aggressive stoking of tariff wars adds further uncertainty to international investment decisions and threatens to disrupt the international supply chains which the wind industry relies on.”
Concluded Backwell, “It’s vitally important that policy makers around the world don’t take their eyes of the prize, ensure stable and predictable market frameworks, work within multilateral frameworks to ensure free and fair trade, and work with investors and industry to enable rapid deployment of clean, efficient wind power to support economic growth, resilience, and prosperity.”
GWEC recommended six actions in a roadmap to scale from today’s growth trajectory to the 320 GW per year needed by 2030. These key recommendations include create demand certainty, de-risk investment, industrialise for scale, enable fair trade, modernise infrastructure, and build social licence by countering disinformation with transparent, community-led engagement, benefit-sharing schemes, and local ownership models.
UK’s Record Year for Wind Power
In the UK, wind was the largest source of electricity generation in 2024 for the first year ever, accounting for 30 percent, said the National Energy System Operator (NESO), which coordinates electricity distribution. In addition, renewables generated more than 50 percent of Britain’s electricity for four consecutive quarters (Q4 2023 – Q3 2024) for the first time, averaging 51 percent during 2024, NESO’s figures showed.
As wind overtook gas as the top electricity source, last year also saw a monumental moment for Great Britain’s energy as coal came off the system for good.
Operational onshore wind in the UK currently totals 15.7 GW, up by 739 MW in 2024 due to the commissioning of some large-scale projects such as Viking (443 MW), Kype Muir Extension (67.2 MW),s and Broken Cross (43.2 MW), according to RenewableUK’s market intelligence service EnergyPulse.
The UK is set to achieve 26 GW of onshore wind by 2030, 3.1 GW below the target set out in the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan (CP30), EnergyPulse reckons. It will be the goal of the Onshore Wind Industry Task Force to achieve this target by “identifying and then delivering the actions needed to accelerate onshore wind deployment to 2030 and beyond”.
In offshore wind, the UK’s current operational offshore wind capacity stands at 14.7 GW. Notably, 2024 marked the first year since 2016 without any new offshore wind projects fully commissioned, EnergyPulse said.
However, significant construction activity continued offshore, with six projects totalling 6.3 GW undergoing major offshore installation activities. Among these, three projects of a combined 2.5 GW are expected to reach full commissioning in 2025, while two more of another 2.5 GW will begin major offshore construction during the year.
Moreover, the number of offshore wind planning applications in the UK jumped last year, with the capacity of projects in the UK’s planning systems nearly tripling. Fourteen planning applications, representing 15.4 GW, were submitted, bringing the total capacity in the planning system to 22.85 GW by year-end. Four projects (1.3 GW) received planning consent in 2024.
EnergyPulse’s latest forecast is that UK offshore wind capacity will reach 41.5 GW by the end of 2030, including partially commissioned projects, with fully commissioned capacity predicted at 36.8 GW. This includes 1.2 GW of floating wind capacity, although much of this hinges on a few key projects currently scheduled for 2030 completion.
Future projects could also see acceleration and more offshore wind capacity could secure contracts at this year’s UK clean energy auction, RenewableUK said after the government approved RWE’s Rampion 2 offshore wind farm project off the Sussex coast. Once fully operational, Rampion 2 would be capable of powering the equivalent of over one million UK homes, RWE says.
RenewableUK’s Deputy Chief Executive Jane Cooper commented,
“It means that a massive 8.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity is now eligible to bid into this year’s auction for new clean energy projects. If the Government agrees contracts with all of them, we could see 14 offshore wind farms go ahead, built with over £17 billion of private investment.”
“This would be a record amount of clean power from offshore wind secured in one auction. What’s more, we could see even more offshore wind projects bid in this year if Government continue to consent them at pace,” Cooper noted.
The UK government has announced £300 million of funding to secure global offshore wind investment in the UK. Workers and businesses in the UK’s industrial heartlands will benefit from an initial £300 million of funding through Great British Energy to invest in supply chains for domestic offshore wind, the UK government said at the end of April.
“Delivering the Plan for Change means winning the race for the clean energy jobs of the future, which will drive growth and help us reach clean power by 2030,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
RenewableUK’s Cooper commented on the announcement,
“There’s a huge opportunity for the UK to secure thousands of new jobs and supply chain investment in the sector, which will make our home-grown energy supply even more secure.”
