European Turbine Orders Hit Record 15GW

Wind turbine orders across Europe surged to 15GW in 2020, up by 74% year on year despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

Both onshore and offshore orders saw an increase in sales, according to a WindEurope report.

European countries ordered 8.2GW of onshore wind turbines – a 13% increase compared to 2019.

Offshore orders grew six-fold compared to the previous year to 6.4GW, said the study.

The 104 orders came from 19 different countries over the year.

The United Kingdom ordered most wind turbine capacity with 4.4GW, followed by the Netherlands with 2.4GW and Sweden came third with 1.4GW.

Sweden ordered the most onshore turbines followed by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

For offshore, the UK ordered the most capacity followed by the Netherlands.

France and Germany are the other countries to have ordered a significant amount of offshore turbines but stalling wind energy expansion in both countries led to lower orders than in previous years.