Global Wind Report 2025
Why in News?
- The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has released its Global Wind Report 2025, highlighting the wind energy sector’s performance in 2024 and outlining the challenges and opportunities ahead. Despite achieving a record 117 GW of new wind capacity installations in 2024, the industry remains behind the pace required to meet global climate targets.
Important Key Points:
-
Record Installations: In 2024, the global wind industry added 117 GW of new capacity, surpassing the previous year’s 116.6 GW. This brings the total global wind power capacity to 1,136 GW.
-
Regional Contributions: China led with 79.8 GW of new installations, followed by the United States with nearly 4.1 GW. The Asia-Pacific region saw a 7% year-on-year growth, while Africa and the Middle East experienced a remarkable 107% increase, driven by developments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
-
Offshore Wind Development: Offshore wind contributed 8 GW to the new capacity in 2024. While this is a positive development, it underscores the need for accelerated growth in this segment to meet future energy demands.
-
Challenges Identified: The report emphasizes several obstacles hindering the sector’s growth, including policy instability, permitting delays, grid infrastructure limitations, and trade tensions. These factors contribute to the shortfall in meeting the annual target of 320 GW necessary to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030, as agreed upon at COP28.
-
Future Outlook: GWEC forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 8.8% for the wind industry through 2030, anticipating an additional 981 GW of capacity during this period. However, achieving this projection will require concerted efforts to address the identified challenges.
