Europe to boost wind power capacity to 439 GW by 2030

According to WindEurope data released for World Wind Day, Europe will install about 151 GW of new wind‑energy capacity between 2026 and 2030. Roughly 117 GW of this will be onshore, bringing total installed wind capacity to 439 GW by 2030 – 366 GW onshore and 73 GW offshore. The region is expected to add an average of 30 GW of wind capacity each year, with the European Union accounting for about 112 GW of the new build and an annual increase of roughly 22 GW.

The sector currently supports around 443 000 jobs and is projected to employ about 607 000 people by 2030. During the same period, about 16 GW of existing turbines will be retired, half of which will be repowered, raising total renewed capacity to 17 GW while the remaining 8 GW will be withdrawn. Repowering typically triples electricity output per turbine while reducing turbine numbers by about two‑thirds. New onshore turbines average 5.2 MW of capacity, offshore turbines about 10.7 MW.