Europe saw a 17.5% increase to 17 gigawatts of new wind energy capacity in 2021, 81% of which were onshore, WindEurope's report showed Thursday.
WindEurope said that despite a relatively strong year in new capacity installations – the best in the last 10 years, it was still not satisfied with the installation rates.
Europe's cumulative wind energy installation reached 236 gigawatts (GW) last year, marking a 7.76% year-on-year increase.
The report, Wind Energy in Europe 2021 Statistics and the Outlook for 2022-2026 showed that the EU’s 27 members installed a disappointing 11 GW of wind power last year, which falls short of the 30 GW a year of new wind to meet its 40% renewables target by 2030.
'This is not even half of what the EU should be building to be on track to deliver its 2030 Climate and Energy goals,' the report said.
Offshore wind installations in Europe totaled 3.4 GW last year, the report said.
By the end of 2021, Europe had reached 236 GW of wind capacity, from which 207 GW was generated onshore and 28 GW offshore.
Europe's wind farms generated 437 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in 2021, covering 15% of the electricity demand in the EU-27 plus the UK.
The report revealed that the UK, Sweden, Germany and Turkiye built the most onshore wind. The UK ranked highest in total new wind installations of 2.31 GW, followed by Sweden with 2.10 GW, Germany with 1.9 GW and Turkiye with 1.9 GW.
'Denmark and Ireland remain the countries with the highest share of wind in their electricity mix with 44% and 31% respectively,' the report said.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr