Blowin’ in the wind

2023 was a huge year for wind energy. Indeed, 117 gigawatts of new capacity was installed around the world, up 50% on the previous year’s figure and reversing two years of stalling progress, per a new report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

While that’s an all-time high for global wind production and a promising step in the shift towards cleaner energy, the GWEC did warn that the goal to triple installed renewable energy generation by 2030 — which was agreed by more than 100 governments at COP28 last year — would require growth within the industry to “rapidly accelerate”. New capacity would need to reach 320 GW a year by the end of the decade to track towards the goal.

Cleaning up

The world’s been increasingly turning to turbines as a source of renewable energy, with wind now accounting for more than 10% of utility-scale electricity generation in the US. That shift is expected to continue too: according to the International Energy Agency, wind and solar will account for 95% of all renewable growth until 2028.

Global capacity from new onshore wind energy installations alone climbed to over 100 gigawatts for the first time ever last year. According to estimates from the Department of the Interior, that magnitude of new capacity would theoretically be enough to power 22.5-30M US homes each year.

Go deeper: How 73,352 turbines are fanned out across the US.