The EWEA’s new capacity estimate indicates a 64% increase in the EU’s installed wind capacity by 2020 compared to 2013 levels.
Of the total estimate, 23.5GW of installations will be in the offshore wind sector with up to €124bn of investments in wind farms by 2020.
The growth is expected to create more than 100,000 extra jobs in the wind industry throughout the EU.
The EWEA expects wind energy to generate 442TWh of power by 2020, meeting 14.9% of EU electricity consumption, which will be 11% lower than it did in 2009.
EWEA deputy chief executive officer Justin Wilkes said: "A cocktail of regulatory uncertainty, ongoing climate and energy discussions at EU level and rapidly evolving national frameworks has contributed to these new scenarios.
"However, while regulatory stability is still recovering in Europe, onshore markets such as Germany, France, United Kingdom and Poland will remain key for wind power installations.
"For offshore, extra confidence in the UK, continued deployment in Germany, and faster deployment in France and the Netherlands should continue to push the industry forward to 2020. It remains the fastest growing part of the power sector in Europe today."
Image: The EWEA expects wind energy to generate 442 TWh of power by 2020, meeting 14.9% of EU electricity consumption. Photo: Courtesy of European Wind Energy Association.
