Europe’s Wind Power Buildout Jumps 30% in First Half
Price, Not Politics, Is Driving Most of India’s Oil Buying What I Cover Irina Slav has been writing about global energy markets since 2007, covering the oil and gas industry, energy security, commodities, and the… New wind power capacity in Europe reached 8.8 GW in the first half of the year, up about 30% from a year earlier, according to WindEurope datacitedby Reuters.
The annual increase was driven by Germany as well as strong growth in offshore wind installations, the industry body said.
New wind capacity additions in Germany accounted for 39% of Europe’s total for the first half of the year, or 3.4 GW.
This meant that at the end of June, there was 311 GW in installed wind power generation capacity on the continent.
The first-half 2026 figure compared with just 13 GW added throughout 2024, and 19.1 GW in 2025, per Wind Europefigures.
“Government decisions on permitting, auctions, grids and electrification in the coming months will make or break this momentum,” the chief executive of the industry group said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.
Both the wind and the solar lobbies in Europe—more specifically the European Union—have been calling for faster and easier permitting to stimulate faster 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, Dunkelflauteledto 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.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
Comments
Post a Comment