Subtittle if needed.

If not MONTH 2018

Published in Month 2018

Wind in power 2017

Annual combined onshore
and offshore wind energy statistics
 Wind in power 2017
Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
Published February 2018

windeurope.org
This report summarises new installations and financing activity
in Europe’s wind farms from 1 January to 31 December 2017.

WindEurope regularly surveys the industry to determine

the level of installations of wind farms, and the subsequent
dispatch of first power to the grid. The data represents gross
installations per site and country unless otherwise stated.
Rounding of figures is at the discretion of the author.

DISCLAIMER
This publication contains information collected on a regular
basis throughout the year and then verified with relevant
members of the industry ahead of publication. Neither
WindEurope, nor its members, nor their related entities are,
by means of this publication, rendering professional advice
or services. Neither WindEurope nor its members shall be
responsible for any loss whatsoever sustained by any person
who relies on this publication.

This report was modified from the initial version published on

13 February. Please refer to the footnote in page 9 for more
information.

TEXT AND ANALYSIS:

WindEurope Business Intelligence
Daniel Fraile (Installation and generation highlights)
Ariola Mbistrova (Financing highlights)
EDITORS:
Iván Pineda, WindEurope
Pierre Tardieu, WindEurope
DESIGN:
Laia Miró, WindEurope
FINANCE DATA:
Clean Energy Pipeline
All currency conversions made at EUR/GBP 0.8774 and EUR to USD 1.1330
Figures include estimates for undisclosed values
PHOTO COVER:
Courtesy of Pixabay/Distel2610

WINDEUROPE ACKNOWLEDGES THE KIND COOPERATION OF THE FOLLOWING ASSOCIATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS:
IG Windkraft (AT) - BOP, EDORA and ODE (BE) - BGWEA (BG) - RP Global Projekti (HR) - K. Ellinas Energy (CY) - CSVE (CZ) - DWIA (DK)
- Tuulenergia (EE) - SEV (FO) - Suomen Tuulivoimayhdistys ry (FI) - France Énergie Éolienne and Syndicat des Énergies Renouvelables
(FR) - BWE, VDMA and Stiftung Offshore Windenergie (DE) - HWEA (EL) - HWIA (HU) - IWEA (IE) - Landsvirkjun (IS) - ANEV and as-
soRinnovabili (IT) - LWEA (LV) - LWPA (LT) - Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar (HR) - Ministry of Sustainable Development and Infrastruc-
tures (LU) - NWEA (NL) - PWEA (PL) - APREN (PT) - NorWEA (NO) - RWEA (RO) - Continental Wind Partners (SRB) - Slovak Renewable
Energy Agency (SK) - RAWI (RS) - Svenskvindenergi (SE) - AEE (ES) - Suisse Eole (CH) - TÜREB (TK) - UWEA (UA) - RenewableUK (UK).

MORE INFORMATION:
policy@windeurope.org
+32 2 213 18 68
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................. 6
CONTENTS

1. ANNUAL POWER GENERATION CAPACITY...................................................... 10

1.1  New wind power in 2017...................................................................................... 10

1.2  Total new power generation in 2017............................................................... 11
1.3  New renewable power in 2017.......................................................................... 13

2. TRENDS AND CUMULATIVE INSTALLATIONS.................................................. 14

2.1  Renewable power capacity............................................................................... 14

2.2  Net changes in eu installed power capacity 2000-2017......................... 15
2.3  Total installed power capacity......................................................................... 15

3. A CLOSER LOOK AT NEW WIND POWER CAPACITY..................................... 17

3.1  Onshore and offshore annual installations.......................................................... 17

3.2  National breakdown of new wind power installations.............................. 18
3.3  Onshore and offshore cumulative wind power installations................... 20
3.4  Wind power generation..................................................................................... 21
3.5  Onshore wind turbines....................................................................................... 23

4. INVESTMENT NUMBERS IN 2017.......................................................................... 24

 EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Europe installed 16.8 GW (15.6 GW in the EU) of gross est form of power generation capacity in Europe, closely
additional wind power capacity in 2017, marking a record approaching gas installations.
year on annual installations. With a total net installed ca-
pacity of 168.7 GW, wind energy remains the second larg-

FIGURE 1
Total power generation capacity in the European Union 2005-2017
2015: Wind overtakes hydro
as the 3rd largest form of
2013: Wind power generation capacity.
overtakes nuclear as
the 4th largest form 2016: Wind overtakes coal
2007: Wind overtakes of power generation as the 2nd largest form of
fuel oil as the 5th capacity. power generation capacity.
largest form of power
250
generation capacity.

200

150
GW

100

50

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Wind Gas Coal Large Hydro

Nuclear Solar PV Fuel Oil Biomass
Source: WindEurope

6 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 Executive summary

• The total net EU-installed power generation capacity

2017 annual figures increased by 18.8 GW in 2017 to 937 GW.

• Europe installed 15,638 MW of new wind power
capacity during 2017, an increase of 25% compared
to 2016 annual installations. 12,484 MW were
onshore, and 3,154 MW were offshore.
• 2017 was a record year for both onshore and
offshore installations. Onshore installations grew
14.3% while offshore grew 101% compared to 2016.
• Wind power installed more than any other form
of power generation in Europe in 2017. Wind
power accounted for 55% of total power capacity
installations.
• Renewable energy accounted for 85% of all new EU
power installations in 2017: 23.9 GW of a total 28.3
GW of new power capacity.
• With 336 TWh generated in 2017, wind power
covered an average 11.6% of the EU’s electricity
demand.
• 2017 saw €22.3bn in new investments announced
in wind energy. This will finance the development of
11.5 GW of new wind farms. €14.8bn of this was for
onshore wind, and €7.5bn for offshore. Overall, this
was 19% less than the total investment in 2016.
• Wind energy investments accounted for 52% of the
new clean energy finance in 2017, compared to 86%
in 2016.
• Conventional power sources such as fuel oil and coal
continue to decommission more capacity than they
install. The amount of decommissioned gas-fired
generation capacity was almost equal to the amount
of newly-commissioned gas-fired generation capacity.
Country highlights
• Germany installed the most wind power capacity in
2017, with 42% of the total EU new installations.
• Germany remains the EU country with the largest
installed wind power capacity, followed by Spain, the
UK and France. 16 EU countries have more than 1
GW of wind power installed. Nine of these have more
than 5 GW installed.
• Six EU countries had a record year in new wind
energy installations in 2016: Germany (6.6 GW),
the UK (4.3 GW), France (1.7 GW), Belgium (476
MW), Ireland (426 MW) and Croatia (147 MW).
• Denmark is the country with the largest share of wind
energy in its electricity demand with 44%. Germany
registered the highest annual increase from 16% to
20% of wind energy in its electricity demand.

Trends and cumulative installations

• There are now 168.7 GW of installed wind power

capacity in the EU: 153 GW onshore and 15.8 GW
offshore.

• Wind energy now accounts for 18% of EU’s total

installed power generation capacity.

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 7
WindEurope
15.6 GW
New added 40-50%
capacity WIND ENERGY
in 2017 Share
30-40% COVERED

11.6%
of wind
OF NEW WIND POWER in power
IN THE EU GW 20-30%
demand
Cumulative

16.8 GW installed
capacity
10-20% OF EU ELECTRICITY
DEMAND IN 2017
TOTAL EUROPE 0-10%

0.3

1.2 0.5
0.2
2.1
6.7

-
0.3

6.6
0.3 -
0.07
5.5

-
4.3
0.5

0.4
0.08
3.1 0.04
4.3
18.9
5.8

0.5

2.8 - 0.03
0.1 0.3 -
1.7 56 0.003
0.2
- -
2.8
0.07 0.3
- 0.005
13.8 0.2 0.003
3
0.1
0.1 9.5
0.6

-
0.7

-
0.3
5.3 23.2 0.8
2.6
6.9

-
-
0.2
Source: WindEurope
 Executive summary

TABLE 1
Cumulative and new installed wind power capacity in 2016 and 2017

INSTALLED 2017 INSTALLED 2017

CANDIDATE
INSTALLED END END INSTALLED END END
EU-28 (MW) ON- OFF- COUNTRIES
2016 2016 2017 2016 2016 ON- OFF- 2017
SHORE SHORE (MW)
SHORE SHORE
Austria 228 2,632 196 - 2,828 FYROM - 37 - - 37

Belgium 168 2,378 302 165 2,843 Serbia - 10 8 - 18

Bulgaria - 691 - - 691 Turkey 1,397 6,091 766 - 6,857
Croatia 79 466 147 - 613 Total 1,397 6,138 774 - 6,912

Cyprus - 158 - - 158

Czech INSTALLED 2017

- 281 26 - 308 INSTALLED END END
Republic EFTA (MW)
2016 2016 ON- OFF- 2017
Denmark 223 5,230 342 - 5,476 SHORE SHORE

Iceland - 3 - - 3
Estonia 7 310 - - 310
Liechtenstein - - - - -
Finland 570 1,539 4751 60 2,071
Norway 16 838 324 - 1,162
France 1,561 12,065 1,692 2 13,759
Switzerland 15 70 - - 70
Germany 5,443 50,019 5,334 1,247 56,132
Total 31 911 324 - 1,235
Greece 234 2,369 282 - 2,651

Hungary - 329 - - 329

INSTALLED 2017
Ireland 255 2,701 426 - 3,127 OTHER INSTALLED END END
(MW) 2016 2016 ON- OFF- 2017
Italy 283 9,227 252 - 9,479 SHORE SHORE

Latvia 7 70 - - 66 Belarus - 3 - - 3

Lithuania 178 493 - - 493 Faroe Islands - 18 - - 18

Luxembourg 56 120 - - 120 Russia - 15 - - 15

Malta - - - - - Ukraine 12 526 68 - 593

Netherlands 887 4,328 81 - 4,341 Total 12 563 68 - 631

Poland 6822 5,807 41 - 5,848

INSTALLED 2017
Portugal 268 5,316 - - 5,316 INSTALLED END END
2016 2016 ON- OFF- 2017
Romania 48 3,024 5 - 3,029 SHORE SHORE
Slovakia - 3 - - 3 Total 13,928 161,342 13,649 3,154 177,506

Slovenia - 3 - - 3

Spain 49 23,075 96 - 23,170

Sweden 468 6,494 197 - 6,691

UK 796 14,602 2,590 1,680 18,872

Total EU-28 12,489 153,731 12,484 3,154 168,729

1. 2017 onshore wind capacity in Finland was revised down from 517MW to 475 MW from the version published on 13 February 2018.
2. 2016 onshore wind capacity in Poland was revised down from 1,255 MW to 682 MW from the version published on 13 February 2018.

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 9
WindEurope
 1.
ANNUAL POWER
GENERATION
CAPACITY
1.1  NEW WIND POWER IN 2017
Europe insalled 16.8 GW of wind power in 2017, 15.6 GW of which were installed in the European Union.

FIGURE 2
EU country shares of new wind energy capacity installed during 2017. Total: 15,638 MW

Sweden Austria Croatia Spain Netherlands Czech Republic

197 MW 196 MW 147 MW 96 MW 81 MW 26 MW
Italy 0.6%
1.3% 1.3% 0.9% 0.5% 0.2% Poland
252 MW
1.6% 41 MW
Greece 0.3%
282 MW
Romania
1.8% Denmark 5 MW
342 MW 0.0%
2.2%
Ireland
426 MW
Belgium
2.7%
467 MW Germany
Finland France
3.0% 6,581 MW
535 MW 1,694 MW 42.0%
3.4% 10.8%

UK
4,270 MW
27.2%

Source: WindEurope

10 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 Annual market in 2017

France came third with 1,694 MW (9% growth on the pre-

6 EU COUNTRIES
vious year).

Finland (535 MW), Belgium (467 MW) and Ireland (426

HAD A RECORD YEAR IN WIND ENERGY MW) followed, with additions all above 400 MW and
INSTALLATIONS reaching record levels of installation.

Of the capacity installed in the EU, 12,484 MW was on-
shore and 3,154 MW offshore. The annual onshore in-
stallations increased by 14%, while offshore installations
doubled. Overall, the volume of new installations was 25%
up on the 2016 figure.
The top six countries in 2017 all reached their highest an-
nual installation figures.
In total, 17 countries saw some new installations last year,
down from 2016 with 20 countries. There were no new in-
stallations in the Baltic countries. The Czech Republic had
new installations (26 MW) after two years of inactivity.

Germany installed the most wind power capacity in 2017,
with 6,581 MW of new capacity (a 15% increase on 2016
and a record year); 19% of the installed capacity in Ger-
many was offshore. The UK came second with 4,270 MW
installations, five times more than installations in 2016.
80% of the total new installations took place in just three
countries, a considerable increase in the concentration of
power capacity compared to 2016.

1.2  TOTAL NEW POWER GENERATION IN 2017

FIGURE 3
Share of new installed capacity. Total 28,316 MW
Large Hydro Coal CSP3 Waste Nuclear Small Hydro
1,085 MW 1,741 MW 118 MW 80 MW 28 MW 17 MW
3.8% 6.1% 0.5% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1%
Ocean
Biomass 3 MW
964 MW 0.0%
3.4%

Gas
2,612 MW
9.2%

Wind
15,638 MW
Solar PV
6,030 MW 55.2%
21.3%

Source: WindEurope, Platts, SolarPower Europe, Ocean Energy Europe

3. 2017 CSP capacity was revised up from 0 to 118 MW from the version published on 13 February 2018.

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 11
WindEurope
 Annual market in 2017

In 2017 28.3 GW of new gross power generation capacity

55% OF NEW
were installed in the EU, 9% more than in 2016.

Wind power was the energy technology with the highest

capacity installations in 2017. With 15.6 GW, it accounted POWER CAPACITY
for 55.2% of all new installations. Solar PV came second
IN THE EU CAME FROM WIND
with 6 GW (21.5%) and gas followed with 2.6 GW (9.2%).

Coal added 1.7 GW of new capacity (6.1% of total installa-

tions), hydro installed 1 GW (3.9%) and biomass 964 MW
(3.4%).

During 2017 countries decommissioned 7.5 GW of coal

capacity, 2.2 GW of gas capacity, and 2.1 GW of fuel oil
capacity. 640 MW of wind power were decommissioned.

FIGURE 4
Newly installed and decommissioned capacity in the European Union

20,000
15,638
15,000

10,000
6,030
MW

5,000 2,612 1,741

964 1,085 80 118
0 0 0 0
0
(-640)
(-2,256) (-2,197)
-5,000

-10,000 (-7,510)
Wind Solar Biomass Gas Hydro Waste Peat CSP Fuel Oil Coal
PV

New capacity installed Capacity decommissioned

Source: WindEurope, Platts, SolarPower Europe, Ocean Energy Europe

12 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 Annual market in 2017

1.3  NEW RENEWABLE POWER IN 2017

In 2017 renewables accounted for a total of 23.9 GW of

85% OF NEW
new capacity, 85% of all new installed capacity in the EU-
28. This was the tenth consecutive year in which renewa-
bles contributed over 55% of all additional power capacity
in the EU. POWER CAPACITY
IN THE EU CAME FROM RENEWABLES

FIGURE 5
Share of new renewable power installations. Total: 23,935 MW

Large Hydro CSP Waste Small Hydro

1,085 MW 118 MW 80 MW 17 MW
4.5% 0.5% 0.3% 0.1%

Biomass
964 MW
4.0%

Solar PV
6,030 MW
25.2%
Wind
15,638 MW
65.3%

Source: WindEurope

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 13
WindEurope
 2.
TRENDS AND
CUMULATIVE
INSTALLATIONS
2.1  RENEWABLE POWER CAPACITY
In 2000 new renewable power capacity installations were annual additions of between 20 and 34 GW every year.
a mere 2.7 GW, accounting for less than 20% of new pow- Europe installed 495 GW of new power capacity since
er installations that year. Since 2007 the share of renewa- 2000, 33% of which has been wind power and 60% of
bles has been more than 50% of new power installations. which has been renewables.
As from 2011, this share has been 70% or higher, with

FIGURE 6
Annual installed capacity and renewable share

50,000 100%
Share of RES in total installations

40,000 80%

30,000 60%
MW

20,000 40%

10,000 20%

0 0%
08
06

09
00

02

03

11
04

05

17
16
10
01

12

13
07

14

15
20

20
20

20

20

20

20

20
20
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

RES share Nuclear Fuel Oil Geothermal Large Hydro

Wind Coal Peat CSP Small Hydro
Gas Biomass Other Gas Other Ocean
Solar PV Waste
Source: WindEurope

14 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 Trends and cumulative installations

2.2  NET CHANGES IN EU INSTALLED POWER CAPACITY

2000-2017
Since 2000 the net growth of wind power (157.7 GW), so-
lar PV (107.3 GW) and gas (96.7 GW) capacity has coincid-
ed with the net reduction in fuel oil (down by 40.4 GW),
coal (down by 41.2 GW) and nuclear (down by 17.2 GW).
ables. With a net growth of 96.7 GW since 2000, gas re-
mains the technology with the largest installed capacity
in the EU.

The EU’s power sector continues to move away from fuel

oil, coal and nuclear while increasing its total installed
generation capacity with wind, solar PV and other renew-

FIGURE 7
Net electricity installations in the EU from 2000 to 2017

200
158.3
150
107.3
96.7
100
GW

50
10.5 9.0 2.9 2.3 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0
0

(-17.2)
-50
(-41.2) (-40.4)

-100
as

ro
ro

al
V

ar
as

il
at
te
s
d

an
SP

l
oa

O
as
rP
in

m
yd
yd
G

le
as

Pe
G

ce
C

el
W

C
om

er

uc
la

lH
er
H

Fu
O
th
So

N
th
e
Bi

al
rg

eo
O

Sm
La

Source: WindEurope

2.3  TOTAL INSTALLED POWER CAPACITY

The share of wind power in the EU’s total installed power now closely catching up with gas. Wind remains the first
capacity has increased from 6% in 2005 to 18% in 2017. among renewables. Over the same period renewables in-
Having overtaken coal in 2016 as the second largest form creased their share from 26% of total power capacity in
of power generation capacity in the EU, wind power is 2005 to 47% in 2017.

WIND REMAINS THE 2nd

LARGEST POWER GENERATING
CAPACITY IN THE EU

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 15
WindEurope
 Trends and cumulative installations

FIGURE 8
Share in installed capacity in 2005 and 2017

Biomass Other Wind Biomass Other

7 GW 18 GW 41 GW 15 GW 27 GW
1.0% 2.6% 6.0% 1.6% 2.8%
Solar PV
2 GW Large Hydro
0.3% 137 GW
14.6% Wind
Large Hydro 169 GW
Fuel Oil 120 GW Gas 18.0%
17.7% 138 GW Fuel Oil
52 GW
7.7% 29 GW Solar PV
20.5%
3.0% Nuclear 107 GW
118 GW 11.5%
12.6%
Nuclear Coal
Gas
131 GW 167 GW Coal
188 GW
19.4% 24.8% 148 GW 20.1%
15.8%

2005 2017
Source: WindEurope

16 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
3.
A CLOSER LOOK
AT NEW WIND
POWER CAPACITY
3.1  ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE ANNUAL INSTALLATIONS
Annual wind power installations in the EU have increased Offshore wind represented 20% of the annual EU instal-
steadily over the past 12 years from 6.6 GW in 2005 to lations, with 3,154 MW of new capacity connected to the
15.6 GW in 2017, breaking all previous records. grid in 2017. This was double than 2016 and a slight in-
crease compared to 2015, which was an exceptional year
due to the resolving of grid connection delays in Germany.

FIGURE 9
Annual onshore and offshore wind installations in the EU

18
16 3.1

14 3.0 1.6
1.2 1.6 1.5
12
0.6 0.9
10 0.8
0.3
GW

0.3
8 0.1
0.1
6 10.9 12.5
9.7 10.9 10.0 10.5 9.8
4 8.6 8.1 9.0 8.9
6.5 7.1
2
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
onshore offshore
Source: WindEurope

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 17
WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

3.2  NATIONAL BREAKDOWN OF NEW WIND POWER

INSTALLATIONS
In 2017 42% of new wind energy capacity was installed in the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Greece remained very
in Germany, slightly lower than in 2016 with 44%. The UK modest, with only 6% of the EU total. Wind power installa-
and Ireland significantly increased their share in new ca- tions in countries that joined the EU after 2005 represent-
pacity, from 8% in 2016 to 30% last year. France and Bene- ed just 1%, down from 10% in 2016.
lux remained the third largest region with 14% of the new
installed capacity, down from 20% in 2016. Installations

FIGURE 10
Geographical concentration of the annual wind power installations4

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
11

16
01

10

12

13
07

14

15
08
06
00

09
02

03

04

05

17
20
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20
20
20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

Germany Iberian peninsula, Italy & Greece France & Benelux

Nordics & Austria UK & Ireland Central and Eastern Europe

Source: WindEurope

Germany installed a record 6,581 MW of wind energy,
largely due to the end of its feed-in-tariff regime and the
entry of feed-in-premiums with auctions. Similarly, the UK
experienced the largest growth of installations with 4,270
MW as the support framework (ROCs – Renewable Obli-
gation Certificates) came to an end and developers rushed
to ensure applicability for the outgoing regime (onshore
continued to build and connect wind farms at a strong
pace, breaking their own national records. Importantly,
Finland saw it first commercial offshore installation. Den-
mark had strong onshore installations (342 MW) while
no new offshore installations have been registered since

80% OF WIND
installations). In both countries, offshore installations
represented a large share of all grid-connected projects
thanks to very large wind farms coming into operation5.

The French onshore market, supported by a favoura-

POWER IN THE EU
ble regulatory regime, continued to grow steadily for its WAS INSTALLED IN JUST 3 COUNTRIES:
fourth consecutive year, reaching their best ever result GERMANY, THE UK AND FRANCE
with 1,692 MW. Belgium (476 MW) and Ireland (426 MW)

4. Central Eastern Europe includes Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia,
Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia.
5. Offshore Wind in 2017, WindEurope, February 2018.

18 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

2013. In Greece, onshore installations have been growing
for 4 consecutive years (272 MW). On the other hand, Ita-
ly (255 MW) is far from the rate of installations registered
between 2008 and 2012 (above 1,000 MW annually). Cro-
atia (147 MW) broke a record, doubling its installations
from the previous year. Poland (41 MW) had the largest
decrease compared to the last two years (above 1,200
MW). Similarly, Sweden and Austria have continued to de-
crease since 2014, when they experienced their highest
values.

FIGURE 11
2017 installed wind energy capacity onshore and offshore. Total: 15,638 MW

7,000 6,581

6,000
5,000
4,270
4,000
MW

3,000
1,694
2,000

1,000 535 467 426 342

282 252 197 196 147 96 81 41 26 5
0
ly
k

s
tia
en
e
d

nd

ia
nd

ic
ce

n
K

ia
y

ar

nd
ec
an

an

ai
U

Ita

bl

an
tr
iu
an

ed

oa
la

la
m

Sp

pu
re

rla
us
lg
m

nl

m
Ire

Po
Fr

Sw
en

Cr
Be

G
Fi
er

Re
he

Ro
D
G

et

h
ec
N

Cz
Onshore Offshore
Source: WindEurope

With a newly-installed wind capacity of 426 MW and an

average power consumption of 3 GW (ratio of 14%), Ire-
land is the country with the highest level of new installed IRELAND IS THE COUNTRY WITH
wind capacity relative to its total power consumption. MOST NEW WIND CAPACITY RELATIVE
Germany (12%) and the UK (12%) follow closely. TO ITS TOTAL POWER CONSUMPTION

TABLE 2
Top 10 countries of wind power installations relative to their power consumption6

RANKING COUNTRY RATIO RANKING COUNTRY RATIO

1 Ireland 14% 6 Greece 5%

2 Germany 12% 7 Denmark 4%

3 UK 12% 8 France 3%

4 Finland 6% 9 Austria 3%

5 Belgium 5% 10 Sweden 1%

6. The ratio of installed capacity to average power consumption is an indicator that reflects the size of national wind energy markets
relative to their electricity demand. It is a performance indicator to compare annual installations between distinct countries.

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 19
WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

3.3  ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE CUMULATIVE WIND

POWER INSTALLATIONS
168.7 GW are now installed in the European Union,
a growth of 10% compared to 2016. Germany remains the
EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by
Spain, the UK, France and Italy. Four other EU countries
(Sweden, Poland, Portugal and Denmark) have more than
168.7 GW
OF WIND POWER ARE NOW INSTALLED
5 GW installed. Seven additional EU countries have over IN THE EU
1 GW of installed capacity: Austria, Belgium, Finland,
Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and Romania.

FIGURE 12
Cumulative installations onshore and offshore in the EU. Total: 168.7 GW

180
15.8

160 13

11
140
8.1

120 6.6
5.0
100 3.8
GW

3.0
80 2.1
153
1.5 141
121
60 1.1 121
0.8 111
101
0.7 91
40 73
82
64
56
20 40 47

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Onshore Offshore
Source: WindEurope

Over half of all wind power installations in the EU are in three 13.8 GW (8% of total EU capacity), 9.5 GW (6%) and 6.7
countries. Germany (56.1 GW), Spain (23.2 GW) and the GW (4%) respectively.
UK (18.9 GW) together represent 58% of all the cumulative
installed capacity. France, Italy and Sweden follow with

20 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

FIGURE 13
Cumulative installations onshore and offshore by country. Total: 168.7 GW

60
56.1

50

40
GW

30
23.2
20 18.9
13.8

10 9.5
6.7 5.8
5.5 5.3 4.3
3.1 3 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.1
0.7 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0
0

Slovakia
Latvia
Slovenia

Malta
Spain

Italy

Austria
Netherlands

Bulgaria
Denmark
Portugal

Croatia

Cyprus
Czech Republic
Ireland

Hungary
Lithuania
Poland
France

Estonia

Luxembourg
Finland
UK
Germany

Sweden

Romania
Belgium

Greece

Onshore Offshore

Source: WindEurope

3.4  WIND POWER GENERATION

In 2017 wind energy generated enough electricity to meet 11.6% of the EU-28’s total electricity demand7.

TABLE 3
Electricity production from wind power (TWh)

TOTAL EU ONSHORE OFFSHORE TOTAL WIND SHARE OF EU

ELECTRICITY WIND ENERGY WIND ENERGY ENERGY CONSUMPTION
CONSUMPTION PRODUCTION PRODUCTION PRODUCTION MET BY WIND
(TWh) (TWh) (TWh) (TWh) ENERGY
2,906 292 43 336 11.6%

Denmark was the EU country with the highest penetration out of the 28 Member States had a wind penetration rate
rate (44%), followed by Portugal (24%) and Ireland (24%). of more than 10%.
Germany registered the highest increase from the previ-
ous year, now covering over 20% of its annual demand. 10

7. At time of publication, generation data for Luxemburg and Croatia was not available.

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 21
WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

FIGURE 14
Percentage of the average annual electricity demand covered by wind8

EU-28 11.6%

Denmark 44.4%
Portugal 24.2%
Ireland 24.0%
Germany 20.8%
Spain 18.6%
United Kingdom 13.5%
Sweden 12.5%
Romania 12.2%
Austria 10.6%
Lithuania 10.5%
Netherlands 9.6%
Poland 8.5%
Estonia 8.5%
Greece 8.3%
Belgium 6.0%
Italy 5.2%
Finland 4.9%
France 4.8%
Cyprus 4.6%
Bulgaria 3.7%
Norway 2.0%
Latvia 1.8%
Hungary 1.6%
FYR Macedonia 1.6%
Czech Republic 0.9%
Switzerland 0.1%
Slovenia 0%
Slovakia 0%
Serbia 0%
Montenegro 0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

wind onshore wind offshore

Source: WindEurope

8. The figures represent the average of the penetration rates captured hourly from ENTSO-E and corrected thanks to national TSOs and
BEIS data. All European countries data is not available.

22 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

3.5  WIND TURBINES SIZE

The size and type of wind turbines installed in the EU in
2017 varied significantly between countries. The onshore
wind turbines in Denmark and Finland had an average
power rating of 3.4 MW. Spain had an average rating of
less than 2 MW. The average onshore turbine size was 2.7
MW.
The offshore wind turbines in the UK and Germany had an
average power rating of 6.0 and 5.6 MW respectively. By con-
trast, all the turbines installed in Belgium belong to a project
that started in 2009 and thus uses older turbine models (3.3
MW). In France, the relatively low rating (2 MW) is due to the
type of project (demo floating wind turbine).
The differences observed in onshore wind turbine ratings
in the different countries are due to three main factors:
• regulatory restrictions on tip height
• duration of projects and
• wind speeds.
For offshore wind turbines, the main difference observed
in sizes per country is due to:
• the year of consent for specific projects, and
• whether they are floating.

FIGURE 15
Number of turbines installed in 2017 and their average power rating – Onshore
2,000 1,792 4.0
3.5
1,500 3.0
2.5
1,067
1,000 714 2.0
1.5
500 164 1.0
153 136 111 100 63 63 50 11 5 0.5
0 0

ia
e
d

m
nd
ce

ia

lic
y

ia
k

en
K

ec

ar
an

an

an
U

tr
iu

at

ub
an

la

ed
m
re

us
lg
m

nl

om
ro
Ire

ep
Fr

Sw
en
Be
G
Fi
er

R
R
D
G

ch
ze
C

Number of turbines Average size (MW)

Source: WindEurope

FIGURE 16
Number of turbines installed in 2017 and their average power rating – Offshore

300 281 7
250 6
222
5
200
4
150
3
100
50 2
50 17 1
1
0 0
UK Germany Belgium Finland France

Number of turbines installed Average Turbine size (MW)

Source: WindEurope

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 23
WindEurope
 4.
INVESTMENT
NUMBERS IN
2017
FIGURE 17
New asset finance in wind energy 2010 – 20179

40 11.5 12
10.3 11
10.0

New capacity financed (GW)

35 9.7
New assets financed (€bn)

10
30 8.9 9
8
25 6.7 18.2
6.3 13.1 7
5.8
20 7.5 6
8.8
5
15
8.4 4
7.2 14.8
10 6.1 12.3 13.1 3
5.0
9.3 2
5 8.1 7.2
6.5 6.7 1
0 0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Onshore Wind Offshore Wind New Capacity Financed
Source: WindEurope

2017 was a record year for new capacity financed. In total,
11.5 GW worth of projects reached Final Investment Deci-
sion (FID): 2.5 GW in offshore and 9 GW in onshore wind.
This compares to 10.3 GW in FIDs in 2016.
However, in monetary terms investments were down by
19% to €22.3bn. This is due to lower offshore wind in-
vestments and cost reductions in the industry. While off-
shore wind energy investments dropped by 60%, down
to €7.5bn, onshore investments hit a record level of
€14.8bn. Cost reductions across the industry’s value chain
and increased industry competition have made it possible
for investors to finance more capacity for less cash.

9. Figures include only new asset financing. Project refinancing and public markets are not included in the investment activity.

24 Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics
WindEurope
 Investment numbers in 2017

Wind energy investments in 2017 were less geographical-
ly concentrated than in 2016. The top three investor coun-
tries owned only 64% of FID announcements in 2017. This
compares to 73% in 2016. Investments in non-EU coun-
tries have increased, with a total of €2.9bn, or 13% of the
new announced FIDs.
Germany was the biggest investor in 2017. They generat-
ed a total financing activity of €6.7bn for the construction
of new onshore and offshore wind farms. This accounts
for 30% of the total wind energy investments made in
2017. The UK came second to Germany with €5bn, or 22%
of the total wind energy investments in 2017.

FIGURE 18
New asset financing in 2017 by country (€bn)

6.7

5.0

2.6

1.5
1.2 1.0 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6
Germany UK Sweden Russia France Spain Italy Greece Ireland Norway Serbia Others
Source: WindEurope

Wind energy investments accounted for 52% of the new Onshore wind projects alone generated 35% of the total
clean energy finance in 2017, compared to 86% in 2016. investment activity in the renewable energy sector.

FIGURE 19
Clean energy investments in 2017 (€bn)10
Others
Biomass
€0.7bn
€2.3bn

Biofuels

52%
€6.5bn

OF RENEWABLE Onshore
ENERGY INVESTMENTS €14.8bn
IN WIND ENERGY Wind energy
€22.3bn

Offshore
Solar
€7.5bn
€10.9bn

Source: WindEurope

10. Figures include only new asset financing. Residential ownership is not included in new investment numbers.

Wind in power 2017 - Annual combined onshore and offshore wind energy statistics 25
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