IEA Wind TCP

The Russian invasion of Ukraine highlighted Europe’s dependency on Russian fossil fuel imports and transformed the narrative on energy policy. In response, the European Commission issued the so-called REPowerEU Plan, which aims to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports. One initiative aims to streamline permitting processes with the purpose of fast-tracking renewable energy deployment.

In March 2023, the European Parliament and Council reached a consensus on an amendment regarding the Renewable Energy Directive. Their agreement sets a new ambitious target where renewable energy must account for a 42.5% share of energy demand. This marks a significant increase from the initial goal of 32%.

In 2022, the EU-27 installed 16 GW of capacity, split between 15 GW onshore and 1 GW offshore. Now, 204 GW of installed power capacity, 188 GW onshore and 16 GW offshore, contributes to the European electricity demand. Furthermore, 454 MW of old onshore wind farm capacity was decommissioned. Germany had the highest new capacity installed in 2022, with 2.7 GW, followed by Finland, France, Sweden, and Spain.

In 2022, wind energy generated 412 TWh, which was a 9% increase in production within the EU-27. This was primarily attributed to significant installations in Sweden and Finland and favourable wind conditions in Northern Europe. This coincided with a decrease in energy demand, likely due to rising electricity prices and governmental interventions to curtail consumption. As a result, wind energy supplied 16% of the EU-27 energy demand, an increase of 2% from 2021.