Europe added 8.8 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity in the first half of 2026, nearly a third more than in the same period last year, according to industry group WindEurope. The growth was driven by installations in Germany and increasing offshore connections, the group said on Tuesday.
Wind capacity in Europe has doubled over the past decade as governments expanded renewable energy generation. Last year, wind and solar produced more electricity in the European Union than fossil fuels for the first time.
Germany installed 39% of new capacity across the continent, bringing total wind capacity in Europe to 311 GW by the end of June. Offshore connections lifted to 2.1 GW in the January–June period, tripling last year's additions in the same period.
WindEurope CEO Tinne Van der Straeten said in a statement: "Government decisions on permitting, auctions, grids and electrification in the coming months will make or break this momentum."
Europe, which counts the EU and 13 other countries including the UK, Turkey and Ukraine, saw new wind capacity additions of 8.8 GW in the first half, a rise of about 30% year-on-year, the figures showed. Germany accounted for 3.4 GW of that total.
The first-half 2026 figure compared with just 13 GW added throughout 2024 and 19.1 GW in 2025, according to WindEurope data. The industry body has highlighted the role of policy decisions in sustaining growth, with both wind and solar lobbies in Europe calling for faster and easier permitting to stimulate capacity additions.
Government decisions are one part of the equation, but costs are another, and they may interfere with ambitious plans. The war in the Middle East has fueled higher inflation that is spreading across industries, and there is no reason why wind power should be an exception.
Germany is leading the way on wind, but Germany has also been the one to suffer the most in times of Dunkelflaute, or the dark doldrums, meaning periods of low or no wind. Back in 2024, Dunkelflaute led to a surge in German—and European—electricity prices as it caused a sharp slump in wind power generation. In early November, Germany’s hourly power price for the peak hours surged to as much as 900 euros per megawatt-hour.