WindEurope has published new data showing that the region added 6.8 GW of new wind power in the first half of 2025. According to the association, this figure is below expectations and far from enough to meet the EU’s 2030 energy security and climate goals.

The report indicates that, with the exception of Germany, most European countries are not doing enough to expand wind power. That’s bad news for Europe’s economic competitiveness.

Europe built 6.8 GW of new wind capacity in H1 2025. Of this, 5.3 GW was in the EU, and 89% was onshore. Europe now has a total of 291 GW of wind power: 254 GW onshore and 37 GW offshore. Slow progress on permitting, grid expansion and electrification means Europe will build less new wind than expected in 2025. At the start of the year, 22.5 GW of new installations were expected; that forecast is now 19 GW. For the EU, the outlook has fallen from 17 GW to 14.5 GW.

The EU is expected to have 344 GW of wind capacity by 2030: 298 GW onshore and 46 GW offshore. That is well below the EU’s 2030 wind target of 425 GW in total.

The decline in new wind additions is bad news for Europe’s overall competitiveness. European industry needs affordable electricity to compete with China and the United States. Yet many governments remain unenthusiastic about wind expansion. This not only threatens the wind sector, it also endangers jobs and growth across steel, chemicals and ICT. Doing business in Europe becomes much harder if the EU cannot meet its energy targets, says WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson.

Germany leads Europe’s wind build-out

Germany is the country building the most wind power. Around 5 GW of onshore wind is expected this year—nearly three times as much as in each of the past five years. This is largely because Germany was the first to rigorously implement the EU’s improved permitting rules. As a result, it permitted a record 15 GW of new onshore wind farms in 2024 and is on track to surpass that in 2025, with 8 GW of onshore permits granted in the first half of the year. On average, German authorities now issue permits within 18 months, meeting the timelines set in the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III).

Most of the rest of Europe is not seeing similar permitting results. None of the other 26 EU countries authorizes new wind farms within RED III’s 24-month deadline. In many countries, permitting is getting worse. And in rolling out so-called renewables acceleration zones, several countries are creating more confusion than simplification.

Beyond permitting, the slow expansion of Europe’s power grids, stalled efforts to electrify the economy, and poor auction design remain critical bottlenecks.

Governments need to coordinate their wind policies. Wind power is competitive: it lowers electricity costs for households and businesses. It is secure: local turbines reduce costly and risky dependence on fossil-fuel imports. And it is good for the economy: it creates jobs and tax revenue. Around 400,000 people already work in Europe’s wind sector, and each new wind turbine adds €16 million to EU GDP. Yet governments still are not delivering permits and construction fast enough, says Giles Dickson.

Positive signs: turbine orders and investments are rising

While new installations are falling short of expectations, turbine orders and investment in new wind farms are moving up—evidence of continued investor and industry interest in Europe’s wind build-out.

Europe reached final investment decisions (FIDs) worth €34 billion for new wind farms in H1 2025—more than the total FIDs made in 2024. That €34 billion will finance 14 GW of new capacity due online in the coming years. Of this, €22 billion went to offshore wind across six new projects, three of them in Poland, including the largest private investment in Poland’s history.

Europe also recorded 11.3 GW of firm wind-turbine orders in H1 2025, up 19% year-on-year. This breaks down into 8.8 GW of onshore turbines and 2.5 GW offshore.