In 2023, the global wind industry installed a record-breaking 117 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity according to the Global Wind Energy Council’s (GWEC) Global Wind Report 2024.
This represents a 50% increase in wind energy installations compared to 2022, with 54 countries across all continents contributing to this remarkable expansion.
According to the report, China, the US, Brazil, Germany, and India emerged as the top five markets for new wind installations, with China alone accounting for nearly 65% of the global total.
In terms of regions, Asia-Pacific, led by China, saw an impressive year-on-year growth of 106%; Latin America, led by Brazil, also experienced record growth in 2023 — 21% more new installations in 2023 than in 2022; Africa and the Middle East Africa saw their wind installations increase by 182% compared to 2022.
Of the new wind installations globally, onshore wind capacity surpassed 100GW last year, 54% more than in 2022. For Offshore wind installations, 2023 was the second-best year in history.
Importantly, the positive trend is expected to continue in the future. GWEC, reflecting the establishment of national industrial policies in major economies and the burgeoning offshore wind sector, has revised its growth forecast for 2024-2030 upwards by 10%, now aiming for 1210GW.
However, despite this record-setting progress and encouraging projections, the report underscores the urgent need for concerted policy-driven action to sustain and amplify this momentum.
“Still, the wind industry must roughly triple its annual growth from a level of 117 GW in 2023 to at least 320 GW by 2030 to meet the COP28 and 1.5C degree pathway targets,” notes the report, calling on “policymakers, investors and communities to work together across the key areas of investment, supply chains, system infrastructure and public consensus, to set the conditions for wind energy growth to take off through to 2030 and beyond.”
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“It’s great to see wind industry growth picking up, and we are proud of reaching a new annual record,” said Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC. “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. Growth is highly concentrated in a few big countries like China, the US, Brazil and Germany, and we need many more countries to remove barriers and improve market frameworks to scale up wind installations.
“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. 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,” Backwell added.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — Cover Photo Credit: George Becker.
