Wind

Countries and regions making notable progress to advance wind electricity include:

• China continues to lead in terms of wind capacity additions, with 76 GW added in 2023, including 5 GW in offshore farms. The 14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy, announced in 2022, provides ambitious targets for renewable energy deployment, which should drive further deployment in the coming years.
• The European Union is accelerating wind deployment in response to the energy crisis, with 15 GW added in 2023. New policies and targets proposed in the REPowerEU Plan, The Green Deal Industrial Plan, European Wind Energy Action Plan, and a communication on delivering on the offshore wind strategy are expected to be important drivers of wind power investment.
• The United States included generous new funding for wind power in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) introduced in 2022. Investment and production tax credits will boost capacity deployment in the medium term. In 2024, the first large-scale offshore wind farms on the American continent are expected to come online on the East Coast of the United States. 
  

The amount of electricity generated by wind increased by 216 TWh in 2023 (up 10%), the second largest growth of all power generation technologies. Wind remains the leading non-hydro renewable technology, generating over 2 330 TWh in 2023, almost as much as all the others combined.

China was responsible for almost 60% of wind generation growth in 2023, followed by the European Union at 26%. Generation in the United States stagnated in 2023, due to relatively low wind conditions.

Global wind capacity additions have rebounded in 2023 after two years of slowdown, reaching a record level, which is expected to result in higher generation growth in 2024.

Aligning with the wind power generation level of about 7 100 TWh in 2030 envisaged by the NZE Scenario calls for average expansion of approximately 17% per year during 2024-2030. Policy support and market conditions for wind power are increasing in major markets such as China, India, the European Union and the United States, but much greater efforts are needed to get on a pathway consistent with the NZE Scenario.

In 2023, of the total 1015 GW of wind capacity installed, 93% was in onshore systems, with the remaining 7% in offshore wind farms. Onshore wind is a developed technology, present in 115 countries around the world, while offshore wind is at the early stage of expansion, with capacity present in just 21 countries. Offshore reach is expected to increase in the coming years as more countries are developing or planning to develop their first offshore wind farms. In 2023, 9% of total wind capacity growth of 116 GW was delivered by offshore technology.

Global wind capacity additions in 2023 were over 50% higher than in 2022, reaching a record level. The increase resulted mostly from doubling of deployment in China due to improving competitiveness of wind power. Wind capacity additions are expected to further accelerate in the following years, driven by increased policy support in the United States and the European Union, and policy targets and high economic competitiveness in China. Offshore deployment is also expected to accelerate in existing markets, such as the European Union, the United Kingdom and China, as well as to enter new markets such as the United States, Japan, Korea and Poland.

Getting on track with annual wind electricity generation of about 7 100 TWh in 2030, as envisaged under the NZE Scenario, will require increased support for both onshore and offshore installations. Efforts should be focused on facilitating permitting, supporting the identification of suitable sites, decreasing costs and reducing project development timelines. 

In 2023, manufacturing capacity for the main wind power components (nacelles, towers and blades) reached 170-180 GW. According to announced expansion plans, global production capabilities are expected to increase in line with anticipated demand in the next 3 years, resulting in approximately 205 GW for towers, 225 GW for blades and 260 GW for nacelles. China is expected to remain the largest manufacturing hub for all main wind energy components in the medium term, with 50-70% share of global capacity.

Realisation of announced projects would bring global wind manufacturing capacity to only about 60% of what is required in 2030 to meet demand envisaged in the NZE Scenario. A rapid increase in co-ordinated efforts from both government and private stakeholders is needed to accelerate wind power deployment and manufacturing capacity investments.

Wind technology innovation is focused on increasing the productivity of turbines, especially in areas with low wind conditions, by developing turbines with longer blades and higher towers. However, the maximum height of onshore wind turbines is often restricted in certain regions for environmental and public acceptance reasons, which limits the scope of possible innovation.

In the offshore wind segment, in contrast, there is no such size restriction; innovation is therefore focused on designing larger turbines, which allow reductions in the overall cost of power generation. In parallel, the development of cost-competitive and safe floating offshore wind turbines is accelerating. Floating wind farms could unblock the vast potential of ocean areas with a water depth too great for fixed turbines and they could be a vital energy transition tool. Deep, relatively near-shore areas in France, Japan, Korea, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the west coast of the United States are expected to be the first to see large-scale deployment of this technology.

Policy support remains the principal driver of wind deployment in the majority of the world. Various types of policy are driving capacity growth, including auctions, feed-in tariffs, contracts for difference and renewable energy portfolio standards. The following important policy changes and targets affecting the growth of wind energy have been implemented in the past couple of years:

• China published its 14th Five-Year Plan for Renewable Energy in June 2022, which includes an ambitious target of 33% of electricity generation to come from renewables by 2025 (up from about 29% in 2021), including an 18% target for wind and solar technologies.
• In August 2022 the federal government of the United States introduced the IRA, which significantly expands support for renewable energy in the next ten years through tax credits and other measures.
• In May 2022 the European Commission proposed to increase the European Union’s renewable energy target for 2030 to 45% as part of the REPowerEU Plan. In February 2023 the Commission announced The Green Deal Industrial Plan, aiming to support the expansion of clean energy technology manufacturing, including wind power. In another positive development, in April 2023 nine European countries announced plans to significantly accelerate offshore wind deployment and increase installed power capacity from 30 GW in 2022 to over 120 GW by 2030 and over 300 GW by 2050. European Wind Power Action Plan and a communication on delivering on the EU offshore wind renewable energy ambitions, announced in October 2023, set important guidelines on developing policies aimed at accelerating wind deployment in EU Member States.
• During COP26, held in November 2021, India announced new 2030 targets of 500 GW of total non-fossil power capacity and a 50% renewable electricity generation share (more than double the 22% share in 2020), as well as net zero emissions by 2070.
  

Investment in wind generation increased by 20% in 2023, supporting the expectations of accelerating capacity deployment in the coming years. Investment reached a record USD 180 billion, the second largest among all power generation technologies (behind solar PV), and this is expected to grow further in the coming years thanks to ambitious government targets, policy support and high competitiveness.

Beyond global renewable energy initiatives that include wind (see Renewables page), there are numerous international organisations, collaboration programmes, groups and initiatives aimed at accelerating wind power growth around the world, including:

• The IEA Wind Energy Systems Technology Collaboration Programme, which provides an information platform for participating governments and industry leaders on co-operative R&D efforts to reduce the cost of wind energy technologies, increase transmission and power system flexibility, and raise social acceptance of wind energy projects. 
  

The main activity of the private sector in wind power deployment is entering into corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) – signing direct contracts with wind power plant operators for the purchase of generated electricity. In 2022 wind farms were responsible for 30% of all renewable capacity contracted in PPAs.