2025 has every chance of becoming a record year for wind energy. In the first half of the year, 72.2 GW of capacity was added worldwide. Compared to the same period last year, this represents an increase of almost 64%.
According to the World Wind Energy Association (WWE), wind farms now generate 12% of global energy consumption.
Growth factors
The association attributes this jump to several factors
- the postponement of several large projects from the end of 2024 to the beginning of 2025
- the rush of investors in some countries seeking to take advantage of existing support. In particular, EcoPolitic reported on the situation in the US. There, businesses want to take advantage of the tax breaks introduced under Biden before the Trump administration revokes them.
World leaders
China consistently tops the list of countries with the largest increase in wind power capacity. While 25.8 GW of wind power capacity was added in the first half of 2024, this year the figure is already 51.4 GW. The total wind power capacity in China currently exceeds 600 GW.
India (3.5 GW), the US (2.1 GW), Germany (1.0 GW), France (1.7 GW), and Brazil (1.3 GW) also showed the highest growth in the first half of the year.
Predicted record
WWE experts predict that the total capacity of new wind turbines worldwide will exceed 150 GW by the end of the year. This will be a new record, exceeding the growth rates of previous years – 120 GW in 2024, 121 GW in 2023, and 86 GW in 2022.
The association's report notes that this year has every chance of becoming the strongest year for wind energy in history.
"The addition of more than 72 GW of new capacity worldwide demonstrates the resilience of the sector and the confidence that governments, investors, and communities continue to place in wind energy as a cornerstone of sustainable progress," said WWE President Irfan Mirza.
EcoPolitic previously analyzed the International Energy Agency's forecast for renewable energy.
