Wind in power

2016 European statistics

Wind in power
2016 European statistics
Published in February 2017

windeurope.org
This report summarises new installations and financing activity
in Europes wind farms from 1 January to 31 December 2016.

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.

Text and analysis:

WindEurope Business Intelligence
Aloys Nghiem (Installation highlights)
Ariola Mbistrova (Financing highlights)

Editors:
Ivn Pineda, WindEurope
Pierre Tardieu, WindEurope

Design:
Laia Mir, WindEurope

DAta:
Clean Energy Pipeline, Platts Powervision
All currency conversions made at EUR/GBP 0.8194 and EUR/USD 1.1069
Figures include estimates for undisclosed values

Photo cover:
Courtesy of Senvion Gmbh

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 nergie olienne and Syndicat des nergies
Renouvelables (FR) - BWE, VDMA and Stiftung Offshore Windenergie (DE) - HWEA (EL) - HWIA (HU) - IWEA (IE) - Landsvirkjun (IS)
- ANEV and assoRinnovabili (IT) - LWEA (LV) - LWPA (LT) - Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar (HR) - Ministry of Sustainable Development
and Infrastructures (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) - TREB (TK) - UWEA (UA)
- RenewableUK (UK) - SolarPower Europe - Ocean Energy Europe - European Solar Thermal Electricity Association.

MORE INFORMATION:
policy@windeurope.org
+32 2 213 18 38
 executive summary ..................................................................................................... 6
CONTENTS

1 ANNUAL MARKET IN 2016 ........................................................................................ 10

1.1 Wind power installations ...................................................................................... 10
1.2 Power capacity installations .............................................................................. 11
1.3 Renewable power installations ......................................................................... 12

2 Trends and cumulative installations ................................................... 13

2.1 Renewable power installations ......................................................................... 13
2.2 Net changes in EU installed power capacity 2000-2016 ......................... 14
2.3 Total installed power capacity .......................................................................... 15

3 A closer look at wind power installations ..................................... 16

3.1 Onshore and offshore annual markets............................................................ 16
3.2 National breakdown of wind power installations ........................................ 17
3.3 Cumulative wind power installations............................................................... 19
3.4 Wind power penetration..................................................................................... 20
3.5 Onshore wind turbines ........................................................................................ 22

4 INVESTMENTS numbers in 2016 ........................................................................ 23

 executive
summary
Europe installed 12.5 GW of gross additional wind capacity in 2016. This was 3% less than the new installations in 2015.
With a total installed capacity of 153.7 GW, wind energy now overtakes coal as the second largest form of power gener-
ation capacity in Europe.

Figure 1
Cumulative power capacity in the European Union 2005-2016
2015: Wind overtakes hydro
as the 3rd largest form of
power generation capacity.

2007: Wind overtakes fuel oil 2013: Wind overtakes nuclear 2016: Wind overtakes coal
as the 5th largest form of as the 4th largest form of as the 2nd largest form of
power generation capacity. power generation capacity. power generation capacity.

250

200

150
GW

100

50

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

Wind Natural Gas Coal Large Hydro

Nuclear Solar PV Fuel Oil
Source: WindEurope

6 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
 Executive Summary

2016 annual figures Country highlights

12.5 GW of new wind power capacity was installed and
grid-connected in the EU during 2016, a decrease of
3% compared to 2015 annual installations. 10,923 MW
were installed onshore, and 1,567 MW were installed
offshore.
Wind power installed more than any other form of
power generation in Europe in 2016.
Wind power accounted for 51% of total power
capacity installations.
Renewable energy accounted for 86% of all new EU
power installations in 2016: 21.1 GW of a total 24.5 GW
of new power capacity.
Germany was the largest market in new wind power
capacity installations, with 44% of the total EU
installations.
Germany remains the EU country with the largest
installed wind power capacity, followed by Spain, the
UK and France. 16 EU Member States have more than
1 GW wind power installed, nine of these have more
than 5 GW installed.
Five EU Member States had a record year in new wind
energy installations in 2016: France (1.6 GW), the
Netherlands (887 MW), Finland (570 MW), Ireland
(384 MW) and Lithuania (178 MW).

With almost 300 TWh generated in 2016, wind power Turkey (1.4 GW) also broke its record for annual new
covered 10.4 % of the EUs electricity demand. installations.

27.5 billion were invested in 2016 to finance wind

energy development. This was 5% more than the total
investment in 2015.

Trends and cumulative installations

There are now 153.7 GW of installed wind power

capacity in the EU: 141.1 GW onshore and 12.6 GW
offshore.

Wind energy has overtaken coal as the second largest

form of power generation capacity.

Wind energy now accounts for 17% of Europes total

installed power generation capacity.

The total net EU installed power generation capacity

increased by 12 GW in 2016 to 918.8 GW.

Conventional power sources such as fuel oil and coal

continue to decommission more capacity than they
install. Despite having decommissioned more than
2 GW this year net gas-fired generation capacity
continues to remain positive.

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 7

WindEurope
 Executive Summary

wind energy capacity in 2016

table 1
Cumulative and new wind power capacity in 2015 and 2016
Wind capacity
installed in Installed End Installed End Candidate
2016 (MW) EU-28 (MW) Installed End Installed End
2015 2015 2016 2016 countries
2015 2015 2016 2016
TOTAL 12.5 GW (MW)
Austria 319 2,404 228 2,632
FYROM - 37 - 37
Belgium 266 2,218 177 2,386
Cumulative wind installed Serbia 10 10 - 10
capacity by country Bulgaria - 691 - 691
Turkey 956 4,694 1,387 6,081
40 - 50 GW Croatia 45 387 34 422
Total 966 4,741 1,387 6,128
30 - 40 GW Cyprus 11 158 - 158

20 - 30 GW Czech Republic - 281 - 281

10 - 20 GW Installed End Installed End

Denmark 234 5,063 220 5,227 EFTA (MW)
2015 2015 2016 2016
5 - 10 GW 570 Estonia 1 303 7 310
Iceland - 3 - 3
1 - 5 GW Finland 379 1,011 570 1,539
Liechtenstein - - - -
0 - 1 GW France 1,073 10,505 1,561 12,065
Norway 7 822 16 838

493 Germany 6,008 44,946 5,443 50,019

7 Switzerland - 60 20 75
Greece 156 2,135 239 2,374
Total 7 882 36 913

2 Hungary - 329 - 329

Ireland 224 2,446 384 2,830

220 178 Installed End Installed End
Italy 306 8,975 282 9,257 Other (MW)
2015 2015 2016 2016
384 Latvia - 62 2 63
Belarus - 3 - 3
Lithuania 27 315 178 493
Faroe Islands - 18 - 18
736
887 Luxembourg - 58 - 58
Russia - 15 - 15
682
Malta - - - -
Ukraine 17 514 12 526
177
Netherlands 621 3,443 887 4,328
Total 17 548 12 559
Poland 1,266 5,100 682 5,782
5,443
Portugal 120 5,050 268 5,316
228 Installed End Installed End
Romania 23 2,976 52 3,028
2015 2015 2016 2016
1,561
52 Slovakia - 3 - 3
Total Europe 13,831 147,852 13,925 161,330
34
Slovenia - 3 - 3

Spain - 23,025 49 23,075

Sweden 615 6,029 493 6,519

282
UK 1,149 13,809 736 14,542
268
49
Total EU-28 12,842 141,726 12,490 153,730
Source: WindEurope
239

Figure 2 Source: WindEurope analysis on Pyry data. Wind in power 2016 European statistics 9
WindEurope
Installed wind capacity in 2016 Capacity values are rounded.
 1.
ANNUAL
MARKET
IN 2016
1.1 WIND POWER INSTALLATIONS
During 2016 13.9 GW of wind power were installed across Europe, 12.5 GW of which were installed in the
European Union.

Figure 3
EU market shares for new wind energy capacity installed during 2016. Total 12,490 MW

Denmark Lithuania Belgium Romania Spain Croatia

Austria 220 MW 178 MW 177 MW 52 MW 49 MW 34 MW
Estonia
228 MW 1.8% 1.4% 1.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3%
7 MW
1.8%
0.1%
Greece
239 MW Latvia
Portugal 1.9% 2 MW
268 MW 0.0%
2.1%
Italy
282 MW
2.3% Germany
5,443 MW
Ireland 43.6%
384 MW
3.1%

Sweden
493 MW Finland France
3.9% 570 MW 1,561 MW
4.6% 12.5%
Poland
UK Netherlands
682 MW
736 MW 887 MW Source: WindEurope
5.5%
5.9% 7.1%

10 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
 Annual Market In 2016

Of the capacity installed in the EU, 10,923 MW was
onshore and 1,567 MW offshore. The annual onshore
installations increased by 11%, and offshore installations
were down almost 50%. Overall, EU wind energy annual
installations decreased by 3% compared to 2015
installations.
Germany was the largest market in 2016 in terms of
annual installations, with 5,443 MW of new capacity,
818 MW of which was offshore (15% of total capacity
installed in Germany). France came second with a record
year of 1,560 MW installations, an increase of 45% on
2015. The Netherlands came third with record installations
of 887 MW.

5 EU MEMBER STATES
Four other countries had a record year in installations:
Turkey (1,394 MW), Finland (570 MW), Ireland (384 MW)
and Lithuania (178 MW).
HAD A RECORD YEAR IN WIND
ENERGY INSTALLATIONS 75% of the total installations took place in just five
markets, a similar trend as in 2015.

1.2 POWER CAPACITY INSTALLATIONS

Figure 4
Share of new installed capacity. Total 24,484 MW

Waste
154 MW
In 2016 24.5 GW of new gross power generation capacity
Nuclear
0.6% 28 MW Small Hydro were installed in the EU, 6.3 GW less than in 2015.
Coal 0.1% 14 MW
243 MW 0.1% Wind power was the energy technology with the highest
1.0% Ocean capacity installations in 2016. With 12.5 GW, it accounted
13 MW for 51% of all new installations. Solar PV came second
Large Hydro
0.1%
657 MW with 6.7 GW (27%) and natural gas followed with 3.1 GW
2.7% Geothermal (13%).
Biomass 6 MW
1,064 MW 0.0%
Biomass installed 1.1 GW (4% of total installations), hydro
4.3%
657 MW (3%), coal 243 MW (1%), and waste 154 MW
(0.6%).

Natural Gas
3,115 MW During 2016 Member States decommissioned 7.5 GW of
12.7% coal capacity, 2.3 GW of natural gas capacity, and 2.2 GW
of fuel oil capacity.
Wind
12,490 MW Source: WindEurope
51.0%
Solar PV
6,700 MW

51%
27.4%

OF NEW POWER CAPACITY

IN THE EU CAME
FROM WIND

1. Based on estimation from Q1-Q3 2016 installation figures.

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 11

WindEurope
 Annual Market In 2016

Figure 5
Newly installed and decommissioned capacity in the EU

15,000
12,490

10,000
6,700

5,000 3,115
MW

1,064 657 154 0 0 0 243

0
(-486)
(-2,256) (- 2,197)
-5,000

(-7,510)
-10,000
d

as

ro

te

at

SP

il

l
oa
O
as
in

rP

as
yd

Pe
G

C
W

C
el
om
la

W
al

Fu
So

ur
Bi

e
rg
at

La
N

New capacity installed Capacity decommissioned Source: WindEurope

1.3 RENEWABLE POWER INSTALLATIONS

In 2016 renewables accounted for a total of 21.1 GW of new capacity, 86% of all new installed capacity in the EU-28. It was,
furthermore, the ninth year in a row where renewables contributed over 55% of all additional power capacity in the EU.

Figure 6
Share of new renewable power installations. Total 21,098 MW

Waste Small Hydro

Large Hydro 154 MW 14 MW
657 MW
0.7% 0.1%
3.1% Geothermal
6 MW
Biomass
0.0%
1,064 MW
5.0%

Solar PV
6,700 MW Wind
86% OF NEW POWER CAPACITY

31.8% 12,490 MW IN THE EU CAME FROM

59.2%
renewables IN 2016

Source: WindEurope

12 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
2.
TRENDS AND
CUMULATIVE
INSTALLATIONS
2.1 RENEWABLE POWER
INSTALLATIONS The share of renewables in total new power capacity
additions reached the 50% threshold in 2007. Since then
In 2000 new renewable power capacity installations it continued to grow and peaked at 86% in 2016.
totalled a mere 2.7 GW, accounting for less than 20% of
new power installations that year. Since 2010, Europe 466 GW of new power capacity has been installed in the
added between 21 GW and 35 GW of new renewable EU since 2000. 31% of it has been wind power and 59%
capacity every year. renewables.

Figure 7
Annual installed capacity and renewable share

60,000 100%
90%
50,000
80%
40,000 70%
MW

30,000
60%
50%
20,000
40%
10,000 30%
20%
0
10%

Wind Solar PV Natural Gas Coal

Nuclear Fuel Oil Large Hydro Biomass
Other Peat Small Hydro Waste
Geothermal Other Gas Res Share

Source: WindEurope

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 13

WindEurope
 Trends and cumulative installations

2.2 NET CHANGES IN EU INSTALLED

POWER CAPACITY 2000-2016
Since 2000, the net growth of wind power (142.6 GW), solar PV (101.2 GW) and natural gas (98.5 GW) capacity has
coincided with the net reduction in fuel oil (down 37.6 GW), coal (down 37.3 GW) and nuclear (down 15.5 GW).

The EUs 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 renewables. With a net growth of 93.5 GW since 2000, natural gas
remains the technology with largest installed capacity in the EU.

Figure 8
Net electricity installations in the EU from 2000 to 2016

160.0
142.6
140.0

120.0
101.2
100.0 93.5

80.0

60.0
GW

40.0

20.0 9.6 7.9

2.7 2.3 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.0
0.0

-20.0
(-15.5)

-40.0
(- 37.3) (-37.6)
d

as

ro

SP

as

ro

al

an

ar

il
oa
a

O
as

t
in

rP

m
as
yd

yd

Pe

le
lG

ce
C
W

el
om

er

uc
la

er
H

lH

Fu
O
ra

th
So

N
th
Bi

e
u

al

eo
rg
at

Sm
La

G
N

Source: WindEurope

14 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
 Trends and cumulative installations

2.3 TOTAL INSTALLED POWER CAPACITY

The share of wind power in total installed power capacity has increased from 6% in 2005 to 16.7% in 2016, overtaking
coal as the second largest form of power generation capacity in the EU and remaining the first among renewables. Over
the same period renewables increased their share from 24% of total power capacity in 2005 to 46% in 2016.

WIND IS NOW THE

2nd LARGEST POWER

GENERATING CAPACITY
IN THE EU

Figure 9
Share in installed capacity in 2005 and 2016

2005 2016
Other
Biomass 18 GW
Wind Other
7 GW 2.6% Biomass
41 GW 24 GW
1.0% 14 GW
6.0% Solar PV 2.6%
1.5%
2 GW
0.3%

Fuel Oil
31 GW
3.4% Wind
Large Hydro Large Hydro 154 GW
120 GW 136 GW
16.7%
17.7% 14.8%
Natural Gas
138 GW
20.5% Solar PV
Fuel Oil 101 GW
52 GW 11.0%
Nuclear
7.7%
120 GW
13.1%
Coal Natural Gas
Nuclear 186 GW
167 GW
131 GW Coal 20.3%
24.8%
19.4% 152 GW
16.5%

Source: WindEurope

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 15

WindEurope
 3.
A CLOSER LOOK
AT WIND POWER
INSTALLATIONS
3.1 ONSHORE AND OFFSHORE ANNUAL MARKETS
Annual wind power installations in the EU have increased steadily over the past 16 years from 2.3 GW in 2000 to 12.5 GW
in 2016, with a maximum level in 2015 of 12.8 GW.

Offshore wind represented 13% of the annual EU wind energy market with 1,567 MW of new gross capacity connected
to the grid in 2016. This is a 48.4% decrease compared with 2015, which was an exceptional year in grid-connections due
to grid-connection delays in Germany being resolved.

Figure 10
Annual onshore and offshore wind installations in the EU

14
3.0
1.5 1.6
1.2 1.6
12
0.6 0.9
10 0.8
0.3
0.3
8 0.1
GW

0.1
6
10.9 10.5 10.9
9.7 10.0 9.8
8.6 9.0 8.9
4 8.1
6.5 7.1

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

Onshore Offshore
Source: WindEurope

16 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

3.2 NATIONAL BREAKDOWN OF

WIND POWER INSTALLATIONS

In 2016 44% of the total EU wind capacity was installed just in Germany. France and Benelux had 21% of the installed
capacity, up from 15% in 2015. The wind installations in the countries that joined the EU after 2005 represent less than
10% of EUs total.

Figure 11
Geographical concentration of the annual wind market2

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Germany Iberian Peninsula, Italy & Greece France & Benelux

Nordics & Austria UK & Ireland Central and Eastern Europe

Source: WindEurope

44% OF EUs wind POWER

WAS INSTALLED
IN GERMANY

With over three times more newly installed capacity than any other EU country, Germany (5.4 GW) remains the largest
wind energy market in Europe. France and Finland benefitted from supportive regulatory frameworks and increased
their annual installations to their best result ever with 1,560 MW and 570 MW respectively. The boom in installed
capacity observed in the Netherlands (887 MW) is largely due to offshore wind with the completion of Gemini (600 MW),
the second largest offshore wind project ever built.

2. Central Eastern Europe includes Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovenia,
Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia.

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 17

WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

Figure 12
EU Member State 2016 installed wind capacity onshore and offshore. Total: 12,490 MW

6,000 3
44
5,

5,000

4,000
MW

3,000

2,000

1,000

Onshore Offshore Source: WindEurope

With new installed wind capacity of 178 MW in 2016, and an average power consumption of 1.1 GW, Lithuania is the
Member State with the highest level of installed wind capacity relative to its power consumption (ratio of 16%3). Ireland
(13%), and Germany (10%) follow with notable ratios too.

table 2
Top 10 EU Member States wind markets relative to their power consumption
(ratio installed capacity in 2016/average 2016 power consumption)

Ranking Country ratio Ranking Country ratio

1 Lithuania 15.7% 9 Poland 3.6%

2 Ireland 12.8% 10 Sweden 3.2%

3 Germany 10.0%

4 Netherlands 7.1%
LITHUANIA
5 Finland 6.2%
IS THE EU MEMBER STATE WITH
6 Denmark 6.0% MOST 2016 INSTALLATIONS
7 Portugal 4.8% RELATIVE TO ITS POWER
CONSUMPTION
8 Greece 4.1%

3. The ratio Installed capacity/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.

18 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

3.3 CUMULATIVE WIND POWER INSTALLATIONS

153.7 GW are now installed in the European Union with growth of 8% in 2016. Germany remains the EU Member State
with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain, the UK, France and Italy. Four other EU countries (Sweden, Denmark,
Poland and Portugal) have more than 5 GW installed. Seven additional EU countries have over 1 GW of installed capacity:
Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and Romania.

153.7 GW
OF WIND POWER ARE
NOW INSTALLED IN THE EU

Figure 13
Cumulative installations onshore and offshore in the EU. Total 153.7 GW

180

160 13
11
140
8.1
120 6.6
5.0
100 3.8
GW

3.0
80 2.1
1.5 141
1.1 131
60 121
0.8 111
101
0.7 91
40 82
73
64
56
20 40 47

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

Onshore Offshore

Source: WindEurope

Germany (50 GW) and Spain (23.1 GW) have the largest cumulative installed wind energy capacity in Europe. Together
they represent 48% of total EU capacity. The UK, France and Italy follow with 14.5 GW (9.5% of total EU capacity),
12.1 GW (7.8%) and 9.3 GW (6.0%) respectively.

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 19

WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

Figure 14
Cumulative installations onshore and offshore in the EU. Total 153.7 GW

50.0
50

40
GW

30

23.1

20
14.5
12.1
9.3
10
6.5 5.8
5.3 5.2
4.3 3.0
2.8 2.6 2.4 2.4
1.5
0.7 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2
0 0.1 0.1

Onshore Offshore
Source: WindEurope

3.4 Wind power penetration

In 2016 wind energy generated enough electricity to meet 10.4% of the EU-28 total electricity demand.

table 3
Electricity production from wind power (TWh)

Total EU Onshore Offshore Share of EU

Wind energy
electricity wind energy wind energy consumption
production
consumption production production met by wind
(TWh)
(TWh) (TWh) (TWh) energy
2,860 259 37 296 10.4%

Source: WindEurope

Denmark was the EU Member State with the highest penetration rate (37%), followed by Ireland (27%) and Portugal
(25%). 11 out of the 28 Member States had a wind penetration rate of more than 10%.

20 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

figure 15
Wind penetration rates in European countries4

Denmark 36.8%

Ireland 27.0%

Portugal 24.7%

Cyprus 19.7%

Spain 19.0%

Germany 16.0%

Romania 12.5%

United Kingdom 12.4%

Sweden 11.4%

Lithuania 10.6%

Austria 10.4%

Netherlands 8.4%

Greece 7.4%

Estonia 7.3%

Poland 7.1%

Belgium 5.8%

Italy 5.5%

France 4.4%

Bulgaria 4.0%

Finland 3.8%

Hungary 1.6%

Latvia 1.6%

Czech Republic 0.8%

Norway 0.5%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Source: WindEurope

4. 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.

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 21

WindEurope
 A closer look at wind power installations

3.5 ONSHORE WIND TURBINES

The size and type of wind turbines installed in the EU in 2016 varied significantly between different Member States. The
wind turbines in Sweden and Finland had an average power rating of more than 3.1 MW. By contrast, the turbines
installed the UK and Spain had an average rating of less than 2 MW.

The differences in wind turbines ratings observed in the different Member States is due to three main factors:
Regulatory restrictions on tip height
Duration of projects
Wind regimes (low speed or high speed)

figure 16
Average 2016 turbine ratings in EU Member States

3.5

3.3
3.1
3.0
3.0
2.9
2.9 2.9
2.8
MW/turbine

2.5
2.5
2.5 2.4
2.4
2.3

2.1 2.1
2.0
2.0
1.9

1.5

Source: WindEurope

22 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
4.
INVESTMENT
NUMBERS IN
2016
Figure 17
New asset finance in wind energy 2010 20165

27.5
26.2
25

21.1
20
16.4

15 14.5
bn EUR

12.7
11.7

10

0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Offshore Wind Onshore Wind

Source: WindEurope

15 EU MEMBER STATES
Europe invested a total of 27.5bn in wind energy, a 5%
increase from 2015. This is largely due to investments in
offshore wind, which increased by 39% on 2015. Onshore
wind investments dropped to 9.3bn, their first decrease ANNOUNCED NO NEW WIND
in the last five years. In total, there were 10.3 GW of new
ENERGY INVESTMENTS IN 2016
wind capacity financed in 2016.

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

Wind in power 2016 European statistics 23

WindEurope
 Investment numbers in 2016

Figure 18
New asset financing in 2016 by country (mEUR)
UK 12,684

For the second consecutive year, the United Kingdom was Germany 5,328
the biggest investor in wind energy. The country generated
Belgium 2,300
a total financing activity of 12.7bn for the construction of
new onshore and offshore wind farms. This accounts for Norway 1,773
46% of the total wind energy investments made in 2016.
Denmark 1,083

France 1,073

Ireland 891

46% OF INVESTMENTS
Sweden

Finland
679

656
ANNOUNCED IN 2016 WERE Italy 538
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM Others 458

0 5,000 10,000 15,000

mEUR

Source: WindEurope

Figure 19
Clean energy investments in 2016 (mEUR)6 Biomass
Biomass
1,347m
CHP
1,440m Other
Wind energy investments accounted for 86% of the new renewables
clean energy finance in 2016, compared to 67% in 2015. 380m
Solar PV
Offshore wind projects alone were responsible for more
1,583m
than half of the investment activity in the renewable
energy sector.

Offshore
Wind
Onshore
18,202m
Wind
9,261m

Source: WindEurope

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

24 Wind in power 2016 European statistics

WindEurope
join THE worlds LARGEST
wind energy gathering
offshorewind2017.com

Exhibition

conference

networking

CO-ORGANISED BY
WindEurope is the voice of the wind industry, actively
promoting wind power in Europe and worldwide. It has
over 450 members with headquarters in more than 40
countries, including the leading wind turbine manufac-
turers, component suppliers, research institutes,
national wind energy associations, developers, contrac-
tors, electricity providers, financial institutions, insur-
ance companies and consultants. This combined
strength makes WindEurope Europes largest and most
powerful wind energy network.

Rue dArlon 80, 1040 Brussels, Belgium

T +32 2 213 1811 F +32 2 213 1890
windeurope.org