Onshore Wind European Market, 17.2 GW Installed in 2025, Vestas 239 MW Deal, and €45 B in New Investments (2024-2025)

The European onshore wind sector confirmed its role as the primary engine for the continent’s renewable energy growth in 2024 and 2025, overcoming persistent supply chain and inflationary pressures. The market installed a record 17.2 GW of new onshore capacity in 2025, accounting for 90% of all new wind installations and supported by €45 billion in new project investments. This performance builds on the 13.8 GW of onshore capacity added in 2024, demonstrating accelerating momentum driven by strong policy, improving economics, and a rush to meet 2030 climate targets. Germany re-emerged as the continent’s central market, while established European turbine manufacturers consolidated their positions through a series of major supply agreements.

Onshore Wind Project Growth, Vestas and GE Vernova Capitalize on Record Orders

The 2024-2025 period was defined by a surge in final investment decisions and turbine supply agreements, solidifying the project pipeline for established European manufacturers even as Chinese firms signal market entry. This activity followed a period of volatility, with order books now reflecting a more stable, albeit competitive, environment for major OEMs. The contracts signed in this timeframe point to a clear developer preference for proven, high-capacity turbine platforms to maximize output on permitted sites.

Vestas Secures Key European Orders

Vestas demonstrated its market leadership by securing a series of critical orders across Europe. In June 2025, the company won its largest order of the year in Germany for a 115 MW project. This was followed in September 2025 by orders for 239 MW of its En Ventus wind turbines for projects in multiple European countries. These deals underscore the sustained demand for the company’s flagship onshore platform and its strong position in Europe’s most important market. The company further solidified its European manufacturing footprint by officially taking over an onshore blade factory in Goleniów, Poland, in September 2025.

GE Vernova Expands Across Europe

GE Vernova also saw significant commercial success, securing a geographically diverse set of turbine supply agreements. In October 2025, the company announced it would equip a Greenvolt wind farm in Romania with 42 turbines. This followed a series of agreements in Germany with developers ENERTRAG and PROKON in September 2025. The company also expanded its reach into new European markets, signing an agreement in June 2025 to supply a 73 MW project in Kosovo and another in April 2025 for a 49 MW project in Spain, highlighting its ability to compete across the continent.

€45 Billion in 2025 Investments, Enel and OX 2 Expand Portfolios

Investment in European onshore wind accelerated in 2025, driven by strategic portfolio acquisitions from major utilities and large-scale project financing in high-growth markets. The €45 billion invested in new wind projects during the year reflects renewed investor confidence, attracted by the technology’s proven cost-competitiveness and supportive government policies. In 2024, the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for onshore wind reached as low as USD 0.040/k Wh in Poland, making it a financially attractive generation source.

Strategic Acquisitions and Project Financing

Major utilities and developers used acquisitions and large-scale financing to expand their operational footprints. In December 2025, Italian utility Enel acquired a portfolio of operational onshore wind farms in Germany, strengthening its presence in Europe’s largest power market. Meanwhile, Swedish developer OX 2 secured €330 million in project financing for a Finnish onshore wind portfolio in December 2025 and acquired three new wind power projects in Romania in the same month. This activity highlights a dual strategy of acquiring operational assets for immediate revenue and financing new builds in growth regions. The market is a sharp contrast to the US onshore wind sector, which has seen some major European players like Ørsted divest assets.

Table: Selected European Onshore Wind Investments and Acquisitions (2025)

Germany vs. the Nordics, Vestas and GE Vernova Compete for Market Share

Germany re-established its dominance in the European onshore wind market in 2024-2025, leading in both new installations and permitting approvals, which attracted significant new turbine orders for major suppliers. In the first half of 2025 alone, Germany’s onshore wind expansion showed strong dynamics, putting the country on track for record approvals and installations. This robust activity in a core market provides a stable demand base that is less apparent in the more volatile offshore wind sector.

Germany Leads European Installations

The German market’s resurgence is a critical driver for the entire European supply chain. Data for the first half of 2025 showed that Germany was a significant contributor to the 6.8 GW of new wind capacity installed in Europe. The country’s streamlined permitting processes, a direct result of new legislation, have begun to yield results, unlocking a backlog of projects and attracting orders for OEMs like Vestas and GE Vernova. The 115 MW order for Vestas in June 2025 was a direct result of this improved market environment.

Nordic and Eastern Europe Growth

While Germany provides the bedrock of demand, the Nordic countries and Eastern Europe represent the key growth frontiers. Finland, in particular, has become a hotspot for large-scale development, exemplified by OX 2‘s decision to commence construction on a 472 MW project in April 2025. Simultaneously, Romania is emerging as an attractive market, drawing investments from GE Vernova for a project with Greenvolt and acquisitions by OX 2. This geographical diversification is crucial for developers seeking new growth opportunities outside of the more saturated Western European markets.

Germany Dominates European Wind Installations in 2024
Germany leads new European wind installations in 2024 with 4,022 MW, representing 25% of the total, largely driven by onshore wind (3,292 MW). The UK and France follow with substantial overall contributions, distinguishing themselves with significant offshore wind capacities (1,178 MW and 658 MW respectively).

Emerging Onshore Markets Drive Diversified Growth
While Germany is the clear leader in total capacity, the robust onshore growth in Finland (1,414 MW) and Türkiye (1,310 MW) signals emerging markets ripe for investment beyond traditional powerhouses. Their focus on onshore wind highlights diverse national strategies, indicating varied regulatory landscapes and grid integration challenges across Europe.

(Source: WindEurope — via Onshore Wind Turbine Market Size, Forecasts Report 2026-2035)

Siemens Gamesa and Vestas Turbine Technology, Quality and Scale in 2025

The market has standardized around larger, more powerful turbines exceeding 5 MW, but quality control issues that plagued the industry pre-2024 forced major OEMs like Siemens Gamesa to prioritize reliability over rapid platform iteration in 2025. In 2024, the average onshore wind turbine size surpassed 5, 000 k W for the first time, a trend that continued into 2025 as developers sought to maximize energy production from each foundation.

Siemens Gamesa’s Quality Control Focus

After a period of significant technical and financial challenges related to its onshore turbine platforms, Siemens Gamesa entered 2024-2025 with a clear mandate to resolve quality issues. The company’s new leadership in May 2024 emphasized a strategic focus on fixing technical problems and stabilizing its onshore business. This shift represents a broader industry trend away from the aggressive introduction of new, untested turbine models toward a focus on the industrialization and reliability of existing, proven platforms.

Vestas’ En Ventus Platform Success

Vestas‘s success with its En Ventus platform highlights the market’s appetite for modular, adaptable technology. The platform’s ability to cater to a wide range of wind conditions and site constraints has been a key factor in its commercial success. The September 2025 order for 239 MW of En Ventus turbines across multiple European countries is a validation of this strategy, demonstrating that developers are prioritizing technology that is both high-performing and reliable.

SWOT Analysis of European Onshore Wind, Market Risks for Vestas

While robust policy support and cost-competitiveness drove growth in 2024-2025, persistent permitting delays in some regions and the looming threat of subsidized Chinese competition represent significant risks to the established European supply chain. The industry’s ability to navigate these challenges will determine if the growth trajectory seen in 2025 can be sustained to meet Europe’s 2030 renewable energy targets. This contrasts with the offshore wind sector, which faces a different set of supply chain and installation vessel constraints.

Table: SWOT Analysis for European Onshore Wind Market (2024-2025)

2026 European Onshore Wind Outlook, Permitting Reforms vs. Chinese Imports

The trajectory for European onshore wind in 2026 hinges on whether member states can successfully implement streamlined permitting, as outlined in EU directives, before low-cost Chinese turbines can establish a significant market foothold. The market’s future growth rate will be determined by the race between Europe’s administrative capacity to build and the global manufacturing capacity to supply.

If Permitting Accelerates

If permitting reforms continue to gain traction beyond Germany, the key signal will be an increase in auction volumes and cleared projects in France and Spain. An acceleration in these markets would confirm a continent-wide easing of the main historical bottleneck, likely pulling forward investment and triggering a new wave of large-scale turbine orders for incumbent suppliers like Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, and GE Vernova.

If Chinese Competition Intensifies

The most critical signal to watch is a definitive announcement of a European factory location by a major Chinese OEM like Mingyang. This would represent a fundamental shift in the competitive environment. A secondary signal would be the appearance of Chinese-made turbines in projects within the EU or in non-EU European countries like Serbia or other Balkan nations, which could serve as a beachhead for wider market entry.

If Macroeconomic Headwinds Persist

If interest rates remain elevated or rise further, the primary metric to watch will be the volume of Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) for projects that rely on merchant power price exposure. A slowdown in FIDs for projects without government-backed revenue stabilization mechanisms like Contracts for Difference (Cf Ds) would indicate that project economics are being squeezed, potentially slowing the build-out rate despite healthy project pipelines.

The questions your competitors are already asking

This report covers one angle of the European onshore wind market. The questions that matter most depend on your work.

• Chinese wind turbine companies Europe expansion
• European wind project permitting reforms
• Europe wind farm repowering pipeline
• European onshore wind project acquisitions 2025

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