New Wind Installations Reached Record High in 2023

Wind turbines spin as two others stand under construction at a wind park near Pinnow, Germany on May 10, 2023. Sean Gallup / Getty Images

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A report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has found that capacity of new global wind energy installation reached 117 gigawatts (GW) in 2023, a global record.

Compared to 2022, capacity from global wind energy installations increased 50% year-over-year, the report found. Globally, 54 countries, with representation of all continents, installed new wind energy infrastructure.

As Reuters reported, most of the new wind installations were onshore, which made up 106 GW of total new capacity added in 2023. Offshore wind installations made up 10.8 GW.

Wind energy capacity reached 1 terawatt for the first time last year, according to the report. With the record-high wind energy capacity added in 2023, GWEC has increased its wind capacity growth forecast for 2024 to 2030 by 10%. 

The council has estimated that new wind installation capacity will grow by 158 GW per year until 2028, Reuters reported.

According to the report, China, U.S., Brazil, Germany and India led the world in new wind energy installations last year. China reached a record of 75 GW, nearly 65% of all new wind energy capacity in 2023.

Despite the promising new record, the report authors are still concerned that wind energy capacity is not growing quickly enough to meet renewable energy targets outlined at COP28 in late 2023.

“It’s great to see wind industry growth picking up, and we are proud of reaching a new annual record. However much more needs to be done to unlock growth by policymakers, industry and other stakeholders to get on to the 3X pathway needed to reach Net Zero,” Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC, said in a press release. “Growth is highly concentrated in a few big countries like China, the U.S., Brazil and Germany, and we need many more countries to remove barriers and improve market frameworks to scale up wind installations.”

As The Associated Press reported, wind energy capacity will need to increase 320 GW or more per year to meet the COP28 targets of tripling renewable energy capacity to at least 11,000 GW by 2030. Wind energy capacity will also need to increase at a higher amount each year to meet the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

To reach these goals, GWEC outlined several global actions that could help in its latest report, including new and enhanced governmental policies, public and private partnerships and investments, a secure supply chain, improved trade policies that don’t increase costs for end-users, updated production models, closing power grid gaps, efficient permitting processes, community engagement and more.

“Geopolitical instability may continue for some time. But as a key energy transition technology, the wind industry needs policymakers to be laser-focused on addressing growth challenges such as planning bottlenecks, grid queues and poorly designed auctions,” Backwell said. “These are the measures that will significantly ramp up project pipelines and delivery, rather than reverting to restrictive trade measures and hostile forms of competition. Enhanced global collaboration is essential to fostering the conducive business environments and efficient supply chains required to accelerate wind and renewable energy growth in line with a 1.5C pathway.”

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