Europe added 6400MW of new onshore and offshore wind capacity in the first half of 2024, according to latest data from WindEurope.
During the period 5.3GW of onshore wind capacity was added and 1.1GW of offshore.
The new installations in the first half of 2024 are slightly fewer than expected, and under half of what was built in the whole of 2023, with the EU on track to build 15GW of new wind farms this year, compared to 16GW in 2023.
Europe took €15.4bn of final investment decisions (FIDs) in new wind farms in the first half of 2024, less than 30% of the total FIDs taken in 2023.
During the period, the EU-27 built 5.7GW of the 6.4GW, consisting of 4.7GW of onshore and 1GW of offshore.
Germany built the most with 1.7GW, followed by France (1.2GW) and Spain (876MW).
Europe now has 278GW of installed wind power capacity, comprising 242GW of onshore and 35GW of offshore capacity.
The EU-27 now has 225GW of wind, consisting of 205GW of onshore and 20GW of offshore capacity.
Wind turbine orders are up on last year by 11% on the first half of 2023 for all of Europe and by 33% for the EU.
EU governments awarded 19.7GW of new wind capacity in their auctions in the first half of 2024, twice as much as the same period of 2023 and WindEurope stated the permitting numbers are also encouraging, notably the 5GW of new onshore permits awarded in Germany.
Current trends and the pipeline of projects and auctions now point to the EU having 350GW of wind energy capacity by 2030.
The main bottleneck now is in electricity grids, according to WindEurope.
New connections aren’t being built or permitted fast enough, it said.
The combination of still high interest rates and input costs with a lower perspective for future wholesale power prices is also making it challenging to take FID for new wind farms, especially the big offshore ones.
WindEurope chief executive Giles Dickson said: “Europe isn’t building enough new wind farms to meet its 2030 energy targets.
“The numbers will rise in the next six years but not by enough.
“Governments need to act urgently to apply the EU permitting rules and ensure the grids connections are ready on time.
“They need to help improve the business case for those looking to build new wind farms and ensure the ports and other logistics are fit for purpose.
“They must also ramp up their support for the electrification of heating, transport and industry.”