Global wind power capacity has surpassed the historic milestone of 1 terawatt (TW) of installed capacity, according to data from the Global Wind Energy Council — a number that would have seemed inconceivable just two decades ago when total global wind capacity was measured in tens of gigawatts.
How Fast Is Wind Growing?
Wind capacity additions have been accelerating steadily. Annual additions have grown from around 40 gigawatts (GW) per year in the mid-2010s to over 100 GW per year by the mid-2020s. China accounts for the largest share of this growth, adding more wind capacity each year than the rest of the world combined, driven by ambitious government targets and rapidly falling turbine costs.
Europe remains the leader in offshore wind costs in 2026, with the North Sea emerging as one of the world’s great energy resources. The UK, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands are all investing heavily in offshore wind as a cornerstone of their energy transition strategies.
Offshore Wind: The Next Frontier
Offshore wind has seen dramatic cost reductions over the past decade, with levelised costs now competitive with new fossil fuel generation in many markets. Floating offshore wind technology — which extends offshore wind into deeper waters previously inaccessible to fixed-foundation turbines — is moving from demonstration projects to commercial scale, opening vast new areas of ocean for wind energy development.
What 1 TW Means for the Energy Transition
Reaching 1 TW of wind capacity is a landmark for the global energy transition, but the journey is far from over. Most climate scenarios require wind capacity to reach 5–8 TW or more by 2050. The pace of growth needs to roughly triple compared to recent years — a significant challenge, but one the industry believes is achievable given falling costs and strong policy support.
