In a significant milestone for renewable energy, the global wind industry installed a record-breaking 117 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in 2023, marking a 50% increase compared to the previous year, according to a report released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) on Tuesday.
However, despite this remarkable achievement, the GWEC stresses the pressing need for accelerated growth to meet climate targets.
The report highlights that last year’s capacity installation was predominantly driven by onshore wind, accounting for 106 GW, while offshore wind contributed 10.8 GW to the total.
Looking ahead, GWEC anticipates that the industry will add approximately 158 GW of new wind installations annually until 2028.
To align with targets set under global climate agreements, the wind energy sector must ramp up installations to at least 320 GW per year by 2030, ultimately reaching a cumulative capacity of 3 terawatts (TW).
Notably, cumulative wind power capacity surpassed the 1 TW milestone for the first time last year.
“It took us over 40 years to reach the 1 TW mark of worldwide installed wind power. We now have just seven years to install the next 2 TW,” said GWEC’s Chief Executive Ben Backwell.
“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,” he added.
The report identifies China as the leading market for wind installations, with a record-breaking 75 GW of new installations commissioned, representing nearly 65% of the global total.
Other key markets include the United States, Brazil, Germany, and India. Latin America, particularly Brazil, experienced notable growth, with a 21% increase in installations compared to the previous year.
