WindEurope have stated that the installation rate of wind needs to double in order to assist in decarbonising Europe. An installation rate of at least 30 GW is required for Europe to meet estimated installed capacities for wind from the EU Commissions report “A Clean planet For All”
In this report, there are several scenarios for differing levels of decarbonisation (2 degree and 1.5 degree scenarios). In order to meet these scenarios, the installation rate of onshore and offshore wind is required to more than double. 2019 saw a 27% increase in the amount of wind installed.
As mentioned in a previous SuperNode article, Europe installed 3.6 GW of new offshore wind capacity, along with 11.8 GW of onshore wind. This means that Europe now has about 205 GW of wind capacity installed. This wind capacity now provided power to meet about 15% of Europes electricity demand in 2019. The graph below shows the previous 10 years of installation rates for Offshore Wind in Europe along with the cumulative installed capacity, which in 2019 exceeded 22 GW.
Source: SuperNode Graph
Offshore wind is expected to grow to an installed capacity of about 100 GW by 2030 in Europe according to the recently submitted National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs).