Europe is not building enough wind energy to deliver the European Commission’s Green Deal, according to trade body WindEurope.
Last year, installations were up 27% compared with 2018, but the rate of installations needs to double to reach the goals set out in the Green Deal, it said.
The region installed 15.4GW of new wind energy in 2019, of which 11.8GW was onshore and 3.6GW offshore, WindEurope said.
Europe now has 205GW of wind energy, which accounted for 15% of all electricity consumption in Europe last year.
The UK installed the most with 2.4GW, followed by Spain with 2.3GW, then Germany with 2.2GW, Sweden (1.6GW) and France (1.3GW).
Across Europe there were €19bn of new investments announced in wind farms, while 15GW of new capacity was awarded in government auctions and tenders.
WindEurope said low installation figures in Germany were partly offset by other countries, such as Spain and Sweden.
In France, challenging weather conditions and administrative delays have slowed down the construction of new wind farms, but the industry is ready to deliver on the pace set out in France’s Energy Plan.
WindEurope chief executive Giles Dickson said: “Wind was 15% of Europe’s electricity. But Europe is not building enough new wind farms to deliver the EU’s goal that it should be half of Europe’s electricity by 2050.”
“Climate neutrality and the Green Deal require Europe to install over twice as much new wind energy each year as it managed in 2019.
“And the growth needs to come from both offshore and onshore wind.”
“That requires a new approach to planning and permitting and continued investment in power grids.
“The National Energy and Climate Plans for 2030 are crucial here. The EU needs to ensure they’re ambitious and rigorously implemented.”