Europe gets 20% of its electricity from wind. But not enough new wind farms being built. Urgent action needed on permitting, grids and electrification

10 January 2025

Europe gets 20% of its electricity from wind. But not enough new wind farms being built. Urgent action needed on permitting, grids and electrification

Wind energy was 20% of all the electricity consumed in Europe. But Europe is not building enough new wind farms. The EU built only 13 GW last year, well below the 30 GW a year it needs to meet its 2030 energy targets. There are 3 problems: (a) most Governments are not applying the new EU permitting rules; (b) new grid connections are delayed; and (c) the slow pace of electrification is holding back demand. Governments are auctioning more new wind farms. So more new projects should be built provided Europe solves those 3 problems and there's a proper business case for building them.

According to first WindEurope estimates, Europe built 15 GW of new wind energy in 2024: 13 GW onshore and 2.3 GW offshore. The EU accounted for 13 GW of this: 11.4 GW onshore and 1.4 GW offshore. To reach its 2030 energy and climate targets the EU should be building 30 GW a year of new wind farms.

Wind generated 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe - and 19% in the EU. The EU wants this share to grow to 34% by 2030 and more than 50% by 2050.

"Europe is not building enough new wind farms. For 3 main reasons - a) most Governments are not applying the good EU permitting rules - they've got to follow Germany's example here; b) new grid connections are delayed; and c) Europe is not electrifying its economy quickly enough. The EU must urgently tackle all three problems. More wind means cheaper power which means increased competitiveness", says WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson.

EU permitting rules must be implemented

Slow and cumbersome permitting remains a key hurdle to the expansion of wind energy. Despite the entry into force of binding new EU permitting rules, many countries have not implemented them into national law yet. The permitting situation has actually worsened in 2024.

That's frustrating given that the few countries which applied the EU permitting rules - binding permitting deadlines, the principle of overriding public interest - have proven how effective its measures are. Take Germany: they permitted almost 15 GW of new onshore wind. That's a new national record and 7 times more than five years ago. Governments must follow Germany's example if they are serious about energy security and industrial competitiveness.

Lack in grids and slow electrification blunt growth in wind installations

Getting access to the electricity grid is now the number one bottleneck to deploying wind energy. Immediate action is needed to unblock grid capacity. Currently more than 500 GW of potential wind energy capacity are waiting for an assessment of their grid connection applications.

But it's not only the grid connection queues. Europe is generally not expanding its electricity grids fast enough. One negative example stands out: the 900 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in Germany is fully installed but waiting for a grid connection. The Transmission System Operator will not be able to connect the wind farm to the German grid before 2026.

Similarly, Europe is not electrifying its economy fast enough. 23% of all energy consumed in the EU is electricity. This needs to increase to 61% by 2050. Electrification rates are stalling, especially in mobility, heating and industry. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has tasked Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen to present an Electrification Action Plan. This cannot happen fast enough.

Governments awarding more wind farms in their auctions

Europe awarded more new wind capacity in Government auctions than ever before. The 37 GW awarded (29 GW awarded in the EU) are a record and are in theory good news for the future pipeline and built-out. But urgent action is needed on permitting, grids and electrification in order to deliver a substantial increase in annual build-out rates.

€31bn investments announced in 2024 - not enough

Europe financed an estimated 19 GW of new wind energy in 2024, slightly down on the 21 GW financed in 2023. This includes robust onshore wind investments of €24bn. But offshore wind investments were significantly down on 2023. It remains very challenging to take final investment decisions for offshore wind farms.

PPA - huge corporate appetite for wind energy

Wind energy continues to attract growing interest from corporate electricity consumers. Corporates understand the business case for sourcing wind power. 50% of all electricity contracted under new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in Europe in 2024 was wind. Dedicated wind PPAs were 4 GW out of a total of 12 GW of renewable PPAs. But 1 GW of wind gives you twice as much electricity than 1 GW of solar.

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