Europe is set to install 87GW of new wind capacity in the next five years bringing the total to 258GW by 2022, according to a new report from WindEurope.
However, policy uncertainty and lack of ambition in many countries is clouding future development, the ‘Wind energy outlook in Europe’ report said.
Most of the new installations – 70.4GW – will be onshore, with 16.5GW offshore.
WindEurope said 4MW+ and 8MW+ turbines that are becoming the norm in onshore and offshore wind, respectively, will drive the growth.
Germany will continue to have the most wind energy with 73GW in 2022, followed by Spain with 30GW and the UK with 26GW.
But Germany’s share of new installations will fall from 40% on average in the last five years to 24%.
Spain and Sweden will see strong growth with record years in 2019, as well as Benelux, Norway, Turkey and France, the report said.
Globally Europe will account for 25% of wind capacity over the next five years.
WindEurope chief executive Giles Dickson said: “Wind energy is on track for solid further expansion in Europe over the next five years. But this growth comes mostly from yesterday’s decisions.
“The outlook for new investment decisions over the next five years is less clear. Most governments still haven’t clarified their plans for new wind farms up to 2030. And partly because of this it’s getting harder to secure permits for new wind farms.
“And there are some specific problems in different countries that need sorting out. Germany messed up its first onshore wind auctions last year so will be build much less wind in the next year or two, leading to job losses. And France has a short-term problem around who can award permits, so there’ll be a dip in growth there too.”
He added that National Energy and Climate Plans for 2030 will be crucial to future growth.
“They’ll define the volumes of new renewables countries want and how and when they propose to auction the new capacity,” he said.