Record years for several regions and offshore wind reflect strong market growth, but installations must still quadruple by the end of the decade to meet a net zero pathway.
The wind industry enjoyed its second-best year ever in 2021, with almost 94 GW of capacity added globally despite a second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is just 1.8% less than the year-over-year wind energy growth rate in 2020. This is a clear sign of the incredible resilience and upward trajectory of the global wind industry.
However, as the Global Wind Report 2022 from the Global Wind Energy Council makes clear, this growth needs to quadruple by the end of the decade if the world is to stay on course for a 1.5C pathway and net zero by 2050.
Global capacity increased by 93.6 GW to bring total cumulative wind power capacity to 837 GW, which is year-over-year growth of 12%. While the world's two biggest markets, China and the US, installed less new onshore wind capacity last year - 30.7 GW and 12.7 GW respectively - other regions enjoyed record years. Europe, Latin America and Africa & the Middle East, increased new onshore installations by 19%, 27% and 120%, respectively.
The offshore wind market enjoyed its best-ever year in 2021, with 21.1 GW commissioned. That represents three times more than the previous year. China's mammoth year of offshore installations accounted for 80% of that growth, helping it pass the UK as the world's largest offshore wind market in cumulative installations.
"The wind industry continues to step up and deliver, but scaling up growth to the level required to reach Net Zero and achieve energy security will require a new, more proactive approach to policy making around the world... The last 12 months should serve as a huge wake-up call that we need to move decisively forward and switch to 21st century energy systems based on renewables."
Ben Backwell, GWEC CEO
Key findings from #GWR22
- Nearly 94 GW of new capacity is the second-best year ever for the wind industry
- Europe, Latin America, and Africa & the Middle East had record years for new installations
- The best year ever for offshore wind, with huge numbers in China and growing floating offshore deployment in the UK
- Auctioned capacity was up 153% with 88 GW awarded globally
- CAGR for wind installations for the next five years is 6.6%, which equates to 557 GW forecast installations from 2022-2026
- Despite two years of record numbers, this simply isn't enough to stay on course for 1.5C and net zero by 2050.
- The current global situation means energy policy is in flux, but new policy initiatives must rapidly increase the trajectory for wind installations for both net zero aims and energy security.
