Europe installed 4.5GW of new wind energy capacity in the first half of 2018, down 26% from the 6.1GW added in the same period last year, according to data from WindEurope.
The drop on last year was expected, but the figures show some “worrying trends”, WindEurope said.
WindEurope chief policy officer Pierre Tardieu said growth is driven by just a handful of markets.
Some of those markets, France, for example, has not issued a new permit for onshore wind in the last eight months because of an “administrative issue” that will lead to a “drop-off in new build now, creating uncertainty in the supply chain”, he said.
“In Germany it’s good that projects now need a permit to bid into onshore auctions, but that rule now needs to be made permanent. Also, there’s no clarity yet on when the 4GW new onshore wind promised in the coalition agreement for 2019-20 is going to be auctioned,” Tardieu added.
He said for offshore wind, Europe is too dependent on the UK – which added 911MW in the first six months of 2018. Belgium added the second highest offshore volume with 175MW.
The rate of installation in Germany has slowed and other countries also need to “beef up and speed up” plans for offshore wind, he said.
In the first six months of the year, onshore wind accounted for 3.3GW of the new capacity, with the offshore sector the remainder.
Some 1.6GW of new onshore capacity was added in Germany in the first six months of the year followed by 605MW in France and 202MW in Denmark.
For the whole of 2018, WindEurope expects to see 3.3GW new offshore wind and 10.2GW of onshore.
Image: Pixabay
Wind growth ‘slows’ in EU
By EBS