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The global wind power capacity additions in 2025 reached a record high of 169.2 GW, marking a growth of 37.9% compared to the previous year. Strong policy frameworks and regulatory reforms were a major driver of this growth, accounting for 161.0 GW, followed by offshore wind power additions of 8.2 GW, thus taking the global wind power installed capacity to 1305 GW.

The market is expected to continue its growth trajectory in the coming years due to several factors, such as strong policy support, energy security, economic goals, and climate goals.

However, the market's growth is being held back by significant macroeconomic headwinds, policy instability, supply chain disruptions, and grid-related challenges. 

Market Definition

The Global Wind Power Market refers to the worldwide industry engaged in the development, manufacturing, installation, and operation of wind energy systems for electricity generation across onshore and offshore locations.

The market encompasses the entire value chain, including wind turbine manufacturers (OEMs), component suppliers, project developers, EPC contractors, utilities, independent power producers, and operations & maintenance (O&M) service providers. It also includes associated activities such as project financing, grid integration, digital monitoring, and repowering of existing wind assets.

From a market scope perspective, it spans equipment supply, project execution, and lifecycle services, making it a combination of infrastructure, energy generation, and technology-driven services. 

Drivers

Strong Policy Frameworks and Regulatory Reforms

Supportive government policies and targets remain one of the key growth drivers for the global wind power market. Governments across the world are developing supportive policy frameworks to meet their climate targets, ensure energy security, and foster economic growth, thus creating a conducive environment for growth in wind power.

In line with targets set at international forums such as the Conference of the Parties and with increasing concerns about fossil fuel security, several nations are developing a variety of policy instruments to support growth in wind power installations.

In 2025, governments in Europe alone awarded 29.4GW of new wind capacity through auctions, resulting in policy-driven growth in the wind market.

As a result, the permitting timelines have been reduced to 17 months, and a significant increase in onshore wind capacity was seen in Germany in 2025, thereby strengthening the project pipeline for future installations.

The United Kingdom has further improved its policy environment by retaining support for the Contracts for Difference mechanism. Although the announcement for the results was delayed for the 2025 auction, a record 9.7 GW was awarded for wind capacity in early 2026, which is a positive move for the future pipeline.

Germany has further improved its regulatory environment by retaining the overriding public interest for wind energy, which has resulted in a significant streamlining of the permitting process.

For instance, in China, policy mechanisms such as the grid parity system, along with large-scale renewable energy initiatives, have continued to play a crucial role in the rapid deployment of wind power.

China continued its leadership position in 2025 with the strong backing of central planning mechanisms and the expansion of onshore and offshore wind power capacity. This momentum is supported by the country’s strong installation levels in 2024.

Similarly, India has continued to enhance its wind power sector through various policy mechanisms such as the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme for offshore wind power projects.

The VGF scheme is focused on supporting the country’s first 1 GW of offshore wind power capacity while improving project bankability and reducing financial risks, and the development of domestic manufacturing capabilities for offshore wind turbines.

These policy-driven measures in the major markets will continue to play a critical role in the acceleration of wind power globally, despite the various challenges faced in the industry.

Restraints

Rising Cost of Capital and Financial Viability Challenges

The cost of capital is one of the most significant macroeconomic factors currently constraining the global wind power market, especially for offshore projects that require large capital outlays. Wind farms require large initial investment outlays, which make these projects highly interest-rate, inflation, and finance-sensitive.

In the current scenario, the high cost of borrowing and financial conditions have resulted in an increase in the overall cost, which is impacting wind power projects.

The problem has been aggravated in the past few years with factors such as high inflation rates, rising global interest rates, and an increase in risk premiums impacting the viability of wind projects in key markets such as Europe, the United States, and emerging countries. Financial constraints continue to be a major bottleneck for new projects even in 2025.

For instance, in 2023 and 2024, several offshore wind projects in the US and Europe were delayed or even canceled due to an increase in costs and less-than-favorable financing conditions.  

Recently, the Empire Wind 2 project in the United States, where Equinor and BP terminated the power purchase agreement with New York authorities in 2024, citing inflation, supply chain disruptions, and increased interest rates that made the project economically unviable under existing contract terms.

This trend seems to be continuing in 2025, where several offshore wind projects are being revised in terms of timelines, renegotiations of PPAs, and a push for a higher strike price in auctions.

A key issue is that several of the earlier schemes or contracts were not prepared to handle the effects of inflation.

The economics of offshore wind projects have been severely impacted, where offshore wind farm LCOE remains high compared to pre-2021 levels, considering the 50% increase observed between 2021 and 2023.

Despite some stabilization in input costs and supply chains noted in 2025, the economics of projects continue to be under pressure.

In Europe, for example, despite investing EUR 45 billion in projects and having reached final investment decisions (FIDs) for 20.9 GW of projects, the pace of deployment still falls behind policy ambitions owing to multiple factors.

The high capital costs continue to act as a major headwind for the growth of the wind power supply chain. The reduced margin for manufacturers and developers means that they can invest less in new projects and manufacturing capacities.

Market Opportunity

The global wind market offers immense growth prospects for wind developers, turbine manufacturers (OEMs), investors, utilities, and grid infrastructure providers. The global installed wind capacity has crossed the 1.2 TW threshold in 2025, marking an era of growth for the wind industry. Strong policy support and growing demand for clean and secure energy will drive the growth of the wind market.

For wind developers and investors, the growing pipeline of large-scale projects offers expansion potential, particularly in Europe, where wind installations are forecasted to average 30 GW annually from 2026 to 2030.

For wind turbine manufacturers and supply chain providers, the growth of the wind power market offers opportunities for capacity expansion and innovation in wind technology, particularly in emerging markets.

Utilities stand to gain from growth prospects in grid infrastructure development, which is critical for the growth of renewable energy.

In addition to these growth prospects, offshore wind farm developers can capitalize on emerging markets such as India and Southeast Asia.

Repowering and hybrid projects such as wind + storage, provide growth prospects for wind developers in mature markets.

Segment Analysis

The global wind power market is segmented on the basis of type into onshore wind power and offshore wind power. Currently, onshore wind is dominating the market, with a huge gap between onshore wind power and offshore wind power in terms of new installations as well as cumulative installed capacity.

In 2025, global wind power capacity additions reached a record high. Among these, onshore wind power dominated, accounting for 161.0 GW or 95% of fresh capacity, whereas offshore wind power capacity additions were 8.1GW.

In the European region, onshore wind power comprised 90% or 17.2 GW, whereas offshore wind power comprised 10% or 0.8 GW.

China continues to dominate the global wind power market, driven by strong policy support, large-scale installations, and a robust domestic manufacturing base. Onshore wind remains the primary growth driver, while offshore wind is steadily expanding to support long-term energy and decarbonization goals.

In contrast, though the offshore LCOE in China has been reduced to USD 58/MWh, projects outside China continue to suffer from macroeconomic pressures.

From a technological standpoint, both segments continue to see a race to the top with regard to turbine sizes. The average rating for an onshore turbine in Europe was 5.2 MW, whereas the offshore segment saw machines being connected with an average rating of 10.7 MW.

The offshore segment is moving further into the sea with turbines being installed further offshore.

Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific

The region that is currently dominating the installations is the Asia Pacific region, while all the other regions, such as North America, Europe, and the rest of the regions, have seen a decline in installations as compared to the previous year.

The region enjoys a significant advantage in terms of a huge project pipeline, positive government policies, and increasing energy demands, thereby acting as a growth driver for the global wind power market.

In 2025, China installed a significant amount of capacity in terms of GW, accounting for almost three-quarters of all global new builds. For the 17th consecutive year, Asia Pacific was seen as the biggest regional market, accounting for over 75% of all new grid-connected capacity as of the end of 2025.

India saw a significant increase in installations, with 6.3 GW installed in 2025, while emerging countries such as Uzbekistan (1.7 GW) and Laos (1.5 GW) saw over 1 GW of capacity installed.

Europe

Europe maintained its position as the second-largest market for wind power in 2025. It witnessed stable but restrained growth. In 2025, Europe installed 19.1 GW of new wind capacity, taking the total installed capacity to 304 GW.

Onshore wind led to new installations, which comprised 90% of new capacity. Offshore wind installation faced challenges due to delays in projects and cost issues.

Germany led in new installations in 2025, amounting to 5.7 GW. This was followed by 2.1 GW in Türkiye, 1.8 GW in Sweden, and 1.6 GW in Spain. Ukraine, which faced the war, still managed to install 325 MW of new capacity.

North America

The United States experienced 50% more growth in 2025 than in 2024, adding slightly less than 6.3 GW after 4.2 GW, resulting in almost 161 GW of total capacity. The United States wind power market remains the third-largest for new wind turbines, this time having to cede it to India, while in the previous year, it was Brazil that had the third-largest number of new installations.

As the administration has not only announced but also implemented several decisions that are clearly against the construction of new wind farms, the future of the US market itself remains at stake. After allowing land-use approvals, the US government paid investors not to build wind farms.

Market Trends 

• The global wind power market is navigating a necessary correction phase, shifting from rapid expansion toward more financially disciplined growth. Rampant inflation, soaring interest rates with the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) jumping from 0% to 5% between 2020 and 2024, and volatile commodity prices for steel and copper have significantly increased capital expenditures, rendering many legacy fixed-price offtake contracts financially nonviable.
  
  

• These macroeconomic headwinds have forced developers to prioritize risk management and long-term returns, resulting in high-profile project delays, contract cancellations, and renegotiations. In response, governments are restructuring auction frameworks by introducing inflation indexing and non-price criteria (such as sustainability and delivery capability) to de-risk future investments.

Market Developments

• BP is aggressively expanding its offshore wind portfolio to achieve 50GW of renewable capacity by 2030, forming a 50:50 joint venture, JERA Nex BP, with a 13GW pipeline. Key growth includes 4GW in Germany (2030), significant UK projects (6GW) with EnBW, and a strategic focus on South Korean markets.

• In February 2026, Ørsted agreed to sell its entire European onshore renewable energy business to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) for EUR 1.44 billion (USD 1.7 billion).

• In September 2025, Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL), a leading player in India’s clean energy sector, entered into a partnership with Suzlon Energy Limited to supply wind turbine generators totaling 838 MW. The wind turbines will be deployed across multiple TPREL projects in various states, with execution phased over the next several years to align with project timelines and commissioning milestones.

• Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy has undergone major restructuring under Siemens Energy, focusing on stabilizing its operations after quality issues in its onshore turbine segment. The company is prioritizing its offshore wind business, where it remains a global leader. Efforts in 2026 include cost control, project execution improvements, and reducing losses, alongside continued deployment of its large offshore turbine models.

The new report from Blackridge Research on the Global Wind Power Market comprehensively analyzes the Wind Power Market and provides deep insight into the current and future state of the industry.

The study examines the market dynamics and regional trends influencing the Global Wind Power Market demand and growth.

The report coverage also addresses present and future market opportunities, market trends & developments, important commercial developments, trends, regions, and segments covered poised for the fastest growth, the competitive landscape, and the market share of key players.

Furthermore, the report will present the market size, demand trends, and projected market growth rates of the Wind Power Market through the global forecast period ending in 2031.

The findings are based on a strong research methodology that includes both primary and secondary research, ensuring accuracy and reliability of the insights. This methodology enables a comprehensive evaluation of the market by incorporating expert interviews, data triangulation, and in-depth analysis of relevant industry sources.

(You can access a comprehensive list of both existing and upcoming Wind Power Projects, along with their current status, through our extensive Wind Project Tracker Service.) 

What Do We Cover in the Report?

Global Wind Power Market Drivers & Restraints

The study covers all the major underlying forces that help the market develop and grow, and the factors that constrain growth.

The report includes a meticulous analysis of each factor, explaining the relevant qualitative information with supporting data.

Each factor's respective impact in the near, medium, and long term will be covered using the Harvey balls for visual communication of qualitative information and functions as a guide for you to analyze the degree of impact.

Global Wind Power Market Analysis

This report discusses market overview, the latest updates, important commercial developments, structural trends, and government policies and regulations.

Global Wind Power Market Size and Demand Forecast

The report provides the Global Wind Power Market size and demand forecast until 2031, including year-on-year (YoY) growth rates and CAGR.

Global Wind Power Market Industry Analysis

The report examines the critical elements of the Wind Power industry supply chain, its structure, and its participants.

Using Porter's five forces framework, the report covers the assessment of the Global Wind Power  Industry's state of competition and profitability.

Global Wind Power Market Segmentation & Forecast

The report dissects the Global Wind Power Market into various segments. 

A detailed summary of the current scenario, recent developments, and market outlook will be provided for each segment.

Further, market size and demand forecasts will be presented, along with various drivers and barriers for individual market segments.

Effective market segmentation enables you to identify emerging trends and opportunities for long-term growth. Contact us for "bespoke" market segmentation to better align the research report with your requirements.

Regional Market Analysis

The report covers detailed profiles of major countries across the world. Each country's analysis covers the current market scenario, market drivers, government policies and regulations, and market outlook.

In addition, market size, demand forecasts, and growth rates will be provided for all regions.
The following are the regions covered: 
North America - United States, Canada, Mexico, and the rest of North America
Europe - France, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK), and the rest of Europe
Asia Pacific - China, India, Japan, Vietnam, Rest of APAC
Rest of the world - Brazil, South Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and other countries 

Key Company Profiles

This report presents detailed profiles of key companies in the Wind power industry, including NextEra Energy Inc., Iberdrola SA, Enel SpA, Orsted A/S, and other notable players. In general, each company profile includes an overview of the company, relevant products and services, a financial overview, and recent developments. 

Competitive Landscape

The report provides a comprehensive list of notable companies in the market, including mergers and acquisitions (M&As), joint ventures (JVs), partnerships, collaborations, and other business agreements.

The study also discusses the strategies adopted by leading players in the industry.

Executive Summary

The executive summary will be jam-packed with charts, infographics, and forecasts. This chapter summarizes the findings of the report crisply and clearly.

The report begins with an Executive Summary chapter and ends with Conclusions and Recommendations.