Global Statistics

WWEA Annual Report 2024: A Challenging Year for Windpower

•                Total capacity exceeds 1’174 Gigawatt,

•                121 Gigawatt added in 2024, slightly less than the last year

•                Dramatic 18% decline outside China

•                Annual growth rate falls from 13,0% to 11,5%

•                China installs 87 Gigawatt, 72% of new global capacity

•                Brazil becomes second largest market and joins top 5 wind power nations 

The full report as of 23 April 2025 can be downloaded here as PDF file 

#WWEApodcast Episode 15: Wind Power Around the World 2024 – Opportunities and Challenges | with WWEA President Dr. Irfan Mirza and Secretary General Stefan Gsänger

Recordings of the WWEAwebinar Wind Power Around the World with speakers from China, USA, Germany, India, Brazil, UK, Spain, Canada, Australia

 

Bonn (WWEA) – In 2024, new wind turbine installations fell far short of expectations, reaching 121’305 Megawatt, slightly less than in 2023, when 121’465 MW were installed. Many of the major markets installed less than in the previous year – in almost half of the top 20 markets, new capacity was lower than in 2023. 

According to preliminary statistics published today by the World Wind Energy Association, global wind power capacity has now reached 1’173’581 Megawatt – well below the estimates published by WWEA in autumn 2024. 

The world saw a dramatic drop in new installed capacity outside of China: While all countries excluding China installed a total of 42’095 Megawatt in 2023, this fell to just 34’413 MW in the year 2024, a drop by 18%.

The volume of the capacity added results in a global growth rate of 11,5%, significantly lower than in 2023, when wind capacity grew by 13,0%.

 

Of the top twenty countries, only five had growth rates well above the global average: China with 18,3%, Brazil with 19,0%, Finland (20,3%), Australia (27,5%) and Argentina (16,6%). Some of the previously very dynamic markets saw a growth of less than 5%: USA (2,8%), Germany (4,6%), Spain (3,9%) and France (3,9%).

The countries with the largest market volume for new wind turbines were in 2024: China (86,7 GW), Brazil (5,4 GW), United States (4,2 GW), India (3,4 GW), Australia (3,3 GW), Germany  (3,2 GW) and the United Kingdom (2,2 GW). 

 

Long-term developments: Growth continues but uncertainties emerge 

With 1’173’581 Megawatt of installed capacity, the world has reached a new record in total installations although it has fallen short of expectations and forecasts for 2024. It is expected that some of the new installations originally anticipated for 2024 will take place in 2025. 

While growth is generally expected in the coming years, driven by new policies, recent developments in the US have created enormous uncertainty not only about the future of the US market, but also about the viability and reliability of international supply chains. 

As a result, a tripling of wind power capacity before the end of this decade is not certain for all countries although a tenfold increase by the middle of the century still can be considered a realistic option. 

Growing opposition in some countries poses an additional risk to the growth of the wind sector. Misinformation spread by populist movements and interest groups is fueling a difficult debate in some countries about some wind farms, whether onshore or offshore. 

It will therefore be crucial to counter fake news with accurate information. It will be essential for wind energy development around the world to follow high standards of community engagement and to ensure that local citizens and communities benefit directly and financially from wind farms in their vicinity. The WWEA Community Engagement Council is working on international guidelines to ensure that best-practice is applied globally. 

 

Share of wind power in electricity generation and consumption 

The world's installed wind power capacity now meets well over 10% of global electricity demand – and much more than nuclear power. 

More than 30 countries now have a share of wind power above the world average – more than 10%. Eleven countries now generate more than 20% of their electricity from wind, and seven of these have a share of 30% or more: the leader Denmark, which generates more than one in two Kilowatt hours of its electricity from wind, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Netherlands, Ireland and Uruguay. These countries demonstrate that the world as a whole can achieve a 40-50% share of wind power in total electricity generation, as outlined by the WWEA in a long-term scenario. 

Given the trend towards electrification in the transport and heating/cooling sectors, wind power will play an even greater role in the future of global energy supply. Wind power will also provide the energy to power cars and heat/cool homes. 

 

Barriers to faster deployment 

New market uncertainties have been created by the new US administration which has announced that it will halt environmental and climate legislation and revive the fossil industry, including the gas, oil and coal sectors. At the same time, wind projects, both offshore and onshore, have been called into question. New trade barriers have added uncertainty to international supply chains. Although the US global market share in 2024 was only around 4%, it is still too early to understand the potential impact on the global wind power supply chains.  

Another long-term obstacle is fossil fuel subsidies which continue to severely distort energy markets. After reaching new heights in recent years – due to the fossil energy supply crisis caused the Russian invasion of Ukraine – governments have been very slow to remove these subsidies, which would be essential to create a level playing field for zero-emission renewables. 

Time-consuming approval and planning procedures remain another major obstacle. As WWEA noted some time ago, the average planning and permitting process takes more than five years – in some countries ten years or more. Permitting should be kept to a reasonable period of time, under normal circumstances two years should be sufficient. 

While good community engagement goes hand in hand with rapid growth – as local citizens are often active drivers of wind energy development – vocal opposition to wind farms can have a potentially destructive effect, delaying or preventing wind projects. Accordingly, community-based wind is a key driver, as many cases have shown. Based on this understanding, WWEA is currently drafting Community Engagement Guidelines based on practical experience, to be released before the end of 2025. 

It is also worth noting that an increasing number of jurisdictions have begun to establish legal standards for this purpose – community energy laws that require wind farm investors to provide certain forms of community benefits, whether in the form of community shares, low electricity prices, payments to the local community, etc. These laws are sometimes called “community energy laws”. 

 

Regional perspectives 

ASIA

China passed the 500’000 Megawatt milestone in 2024 and had an installed capacity of 561’492 Megawatt at the end of 2024. This once again underlined China’s exceptional role in driving global wind power development – the country added 86’892 Megawatt in 2024, up from 79’370 MW in 2023. With this impressive new capacity, China accounts for 72% of the global market for new wind turbines – a steady increase from 65% in 2023 and 58% in 2022. Although also China also fell slightly short of the expected new capacity of nearly 100 GW, the record cements China’s dominant role in global wind power development. With an annual growth rate of 18,3%, one of the highest rates of any major market, China is expected to continue its growth and install even more than 87 GW in 2025.

With an additional 3,4 Gigawatt added in 2024, India has maintained its position as the fifth largest market for new wind capacity, just behind Germany, and the fourth largest market for total installations. In the first quarter of 2025, India has reached the milestone of 50’000 Megawatt of installed capacity. Given the country’s ambitious targets, India is expected to remain fourth in terms of overall capacity in the coming years. New impetus in India is expected to come from repowering and from offshore wind – which is expected to start in the next few years. 

Only one more Asian country can be found amongst the top 20 markets: After several years of stagnation, Japan saw significant growth in 2024, increasing its capacity from 5,2 Gigawatt to 5,8 Gigawatt and consolidating its position as the third largest wind power market in Asia. Vietnam remained the fourth largest Asian wind market with nearly 5 GW.

 

EUROPE 

Many European markets showed weaker performance than in 2023, including Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal, while fewer countries increased their market size for new installations, namely Spain, Italy, Finland, Denmark and Lithuania. 

Germany again leads the way in terms of new installations, with 3,2 Gigawatt, but this is slightly lower than in 2023, bringing the total capacity to 72,7 Gigawatt. In total, only five European countries surpassed the 1 Gigawatt for new installations, down from seven in 2023: Germany, the United Kingdom (2,2 Gigawatt new, 32,3 Gigawatt in total), Finland (1,4 Gigawatt additional, overall 8,4 Gigawatt), Spain (1,2 Gigawatt added, 32 GW in total), and Sweden (1 Gigawatt new, total 17,3 Gigawatt).

Medium sized markets in Europe included France (909 Megawatt added), Italy (plus 865 Megawatt), Poland (850 Megawatt added), Lithuania (plus 474 Megawatt), Denmark (399 Megawatt) and Ireland (204 Megawatt). 

While the urgency of tackling climate change is undisputed, energy independence and industrial aspirations have become the main drivers of renewable energy development on the continent. As a result, the European Commission and most EU member states have kept renewable energy at the top of the energy agenda. 

 

NORTH AMERICA

The wind power market in the United States experienced in 2024 its slowest growth in more than a decade, adding just 4,2 Gigawatt to reach a total capacity of 155 Gigawatt, down from 6,4 Gigawatt in 2023. As a result, the US market has lost its traditional second position in terms of new installations to Brazil. The future of the US market remains unclear, given the new administration’s announcements and decisions affecting land use approvals, the supply chain, the remuneration system and other financial support. 

Canada installed 1,4 Gigawatt and now has 18,4 Gigawatt of capacity – also less new capacity than in 2023. Mexico reached 8,7 Gigawatt in 2024. 

 

SOUTH AMERICA 

Brazil took another big step forward, establishing itself as the world's second largest market for new wind turbines, adding 5,4 Gigawatt of capacity in just one year. With a year-on-year increase in installed capacity of 19%, Brazil again had the highest growth of the top ten wind markets. In terms of total capacity, the country moved from the 7^th to 5^th place by 2024, overtaking Spain and the United Kingdom. In South America, Brazil is the clear leader in wind power with a total capacity of 34 Gigawatt. 

Chile remained as the second largest South American market with a slight increase to 4,9 Gigawatt of installed capacity, followed by Argentina (4,3 Gigawatt, 614 MW up) and Uruguay (1,5 Gigawatt), a country that has already achieved 100% renewable electricity.

 

OCEANIA

In 2024, Australia became the fifth largest market for new installations, adding a remarkable 3,3 Gigawatt, and reaching 11^th place in terms of overall capacity, overtaking Italy. In New Zealand, the total capacity remained unchanged at 1264 MW.

 

AFRICA

Once again, the African continent saw little capacity added in 2024. Morocco, the continent’s wind power leader, added 302 Megawatt, bringing total capacity to 2,4 Gigawatt. Egypt added a little more, 315 Megawatt, for a total capacity of 2,2 Gigawatt. Many African countries have relatively large proportion of their population living in remote areas without grid access, and are therefore focusing on rural electrification, where small wind turbines can well be used alongside with solar. 

 

 

The full report as of 23 April 2025 can be downloaded here as PDF file 

The #WWEApodcast Episode 15: Wind Power Around the World 2024 – Opportunities and Challenges | with WWEA President Dr. Irfan Mirza and Secretary General Stefan Gsänger

Recordings of the WWEAwebinar Wind Power Around the World with speakers from China, USA, Germany, India, Brazil, UK, Spain, Canada, Australia