The global wind industry installed a record 165 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity last year, up 40% from 2024 and mostly driven by China, a report said on Monday, adding this still lagged the pace needed to hit a key climate goal.
Renewable power made up almost half the world's total electricity capacity last year. This year, oil and gas prices have soared due to conflict in the Middle East and countries are looking for alternatives to meet rising energy demand.
Cumulative global wind capacity reached nearly 1.3 terawatts (TW) as of the end of 2025, with 138 countries now powering their economies with wind power, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) said.
The rise in wind capacity installation was driven by strong demand for new onshore wind, which rose by 42% to 155.3 GW, the GWEC said, while new offshore wind rose by 18% to 9 GW.
Asia, led by China and India, commissioned 131 GW of new capacity, which was 80% of the global total. China made up the bulk of that, adding a record 120.5 GW of new wind capacity, taking its cumulative total to over 640 GW.
Europe was the second-highest region for installations, commissioning more than 19 GW of new capacity, which took the total installed wind power capacity above the 300 GW threshold.
Last year's addition marked a 16% increase from the previous year and was driven in part by strong growth in Germany and Türkiye, the GWEC said.
The EU installed 15.1 GW, up 17% year-over-year. But "this is still lower than the annual average growth needed for the EU to meet its 2030 energy and climate targets," the report said.
Germany added a combined 5.7 GW from onshore and offshore wind.
Türkiye added 2.1 GW, consolidating its position as one of the most active onshore markets in the region with nearly 16 GW cumulative capacity.
The U.S., despite the anti-wind rhetoric of the current administration, added nearly 7 GW of onshore wind last year.
Fourteen countries commissioned over a gigawatt of new wind power in 2025, according to the report.
Those included China (120.5 GW), U.S. (6.9 GW), India (6.3 GW), Germany (5.7 GW), Brazil (2.3 GW), Türkiye (2.1 GW), Sweden (1.8 GW), Spain (1.6 GW), Saudi Arabia (1.5 GW), France (1.4 GW), United Kingdom (1.3 GW), Australia (1.2 GW), Chile (1.2 GW) and Finland (1.0 GW).
To meet a global goal to triple renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade, the International Renewable Energy Agency has said 320 GW of new wind capacity needs to be installed every year.
Therefore, new wind capacity needs to be doubled annually from the current level, the GWEC said.
But under current policies, the GWEC estimates a total of 969 GW of new capacity is expected to be added worldwide by 2030, averaging 194 GW per year.
The council said under all the scenarios that stay close to the 1.5 C global warming target, wind energy volumes need to undergo a dramatic and global expansion in the next few years.
"Even as the wind industry growth is accelerating, there is no escaping that global growth remains uneven, and the world is still not on track to triple renewables by 2030," said Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC.
