On 1 September, WindEurope released its latest mid-year industry report, forecasting that Europe’s annual new wind power installations will hit an all-time high in 2026.

Data shows that Europe added 8.8 GW of new wind capacity in the first half of 2026, a robust 30% year-on-year increase from 6.8 GW in the same period of 2025. Of this total, onshore wind contributed 6.5 GW and offshore wind 2.3 GW.

Germany retained its position as Europe’s largest onshore wind market, with 3.4 GW of new installations in H1 – accounting for nearly 40% of Europe’s total growth – comprising 2.36 GW onshore and 1.06 GW offshore. The UK, Europe’s largest offshore wind market, followed with 789 MW (620 MW offshore, 169 MW onshore), while Spain ranked third with 612 MW of new onshore capacity. Across the 27 EU member states, new installations totalled 7.1 GW, with 5.4 GW onshore and 1.7 GW offshore.

As of the reporting cut-off date, Europe’s cumulative wind power capacity surpassed 311 GW, consisting of 270.5 GW onshore and 40.9 GW offshore. The EU27 accounted for 251 GW of the total, with 228.4 GW onshore and 23.2 GW offshore.

The order book presented a mixed picture. New wind turbine orders in Europe totalled 10.6 GW in H1, down 12% year-on-year, but the trend towards larger turbines was clear: the average capacity of onshore turbine orders reached 6.3 MW, while all offshore orders were for 15 MW-class models. Over the past decade, the average capacity of Europe’s onshore turbines has more than doubled from 2.9 MW in 2016, while offshore turbine sizes have stabilised at around 15 MW after rising from roughly 7 MW.

Repowering of older wind farms has further widened the gap in unit capacity. In Germany, new turbines installed in repowering projects are roughly four times the capacity of the decommissioned units; in Italy, turbines of over 6 MW are even replacing legacy models below 1 MW. The 84 offshore turbines grid-connected in H1 had an average unit capacity of 12.7 MW, with Denmark’s Thor project deploying 15 MW models.

For the full-year outlook, WindEurope has revised down its 2026 forecast for new European wind installations to 24.1 GW from a previous projection of 25.4 GW. Even with this downward revision, the total is still set to reach an all-time high. Over the medium to long term, Europe is projected to add 148 GW of wind capacity between 2026 and 2030, targeting a cumulative total of 436 GW by 2030. In terms of growth breakdown, Germany will lead onshore additions with 45 GW, while the offshore segment will be dominated by the UK (13.5 GW) and Germany (6.9 GW).

Regional markets saw stark divergence. Germany’s onshore installations grew 7% year-on-year, Poland’s H1 capacity was 3.6 times that of the same period last year, and Greece’s installations doubled year-on-year. By contrast, new capacity in Spain fell by nearly a third, while France, constrained by height restriction policies, recorded an average new turbine capacity of just 3.6 MW, among the lowest in Europe.

Disparities were even more pronounced in permitting. Germany awarded 9.2 GW of wind permits in H1, up 14% year-on-year, with the average approval timeline cut from 26 months to 17 months. Meanwhile, permit volumes halved in Spain, plunged 68% in the UK and dropped 35% in Ireland.

Overall, the report depicts a European wind sector that is recovering in aggregate volume but marked by growing regional divergence. While installation volumes continue to rise and turbine upsizing accelerates, gaps in project delivery and permitting performance across countries keep widening. All told, 2026 is on track to be a record year for wind power in Europe.