Wind Power Blew Through Records in 2023

The world installed 117 gigawatts of new wind power capacity in 2023, a 50% increase from the year before, making it the best year for new wind projects on record, according to a new report by the industry's trade association. The latest Global Wind Report, published Tuesday by the Global Wind Energy Council, explores the state of the global wind industry and the challenges it's facing in its expansion. More, from the AP:

• The increase in wind installations "shows that the world is moving in the right direction in combating climate change," the report said. But the authors warned that the wind industry must increase its annual growth to at least 320 gigawatts by 2030 in order to meet the COP28 pledge to triple the world's installed renewable energy generation capacity by 2030, as well as to meet the Paris Agreement's ambition of capping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit).

• As was the case in 2022, China led all other countries for both new onshore and offshore wind power installations in 2023. It had 65% of new installations, and was followed by the US, Brazil, and Germany, respectively. The four countries accounted for 77% of new installations globally last year.
• The report notes that growth in wind power installations is highly concentrated in a few big countries and links that to strong market frameworks to scale wind installations in those countries. The top five markets at the end of last year remained as China, the US, Germany, India, and Spain.
• Still, some other countries and regions are coming up, having witnessed record levels of growth in 2023. Africa and the Middle East installed nearly 1 gigawatt of wind power capacity in 2023, almost triple that of the previous year. With upcoming projects in South Africa, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the report predicts that new onshore wind additions for Africa and the Middle East will grow fivefold by 2028 compared with 2023. Some of the markets to watch include Kenya, where wind power. provides around 17% of electricity, the report said.

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