2025 was one of the worst years for the wind sector despite record generation

Like other industries, the wind sector has its better and worse years. However, the past year can be assessed as one of the very worst, for several reasons. Above all the negative factors stand out the policy measures of Donald Trump’s administration. Nevertheless, an improvement can be expected in 2026, driven by adjustments to the terms of auctions for operating support in selected markets, supply chain optimisation and growing electricity demand.

Concerning results of auctions for operating support for offshore wind farms, led by the second German auction, which, like the Danish auction in 2024, failed to attract a single bid, show that the problems facing wind power are not limited to the United States.

However, the greatest attention last year was focused on the United States because of Donald Trump’s administration’s attacks on offshore wind projects. Yet the Trump administration’s campaign is not limited to offshore wind farms. The "One Big Beautiful Bill" passed last year will, according to many analysts, affect the development of all "clean" energy technologies in the US.

For example, BNEF researchers cut their outlook for new wind capacity in the US between 2025 and 2030 by 50 % compared with the outlook from the first half of this year in response to the adoption of the law. The outlook for solar power plants was cut by 23 % and that for energy storage systems by 7 %.

Problems also did not spare Denmark’s largest energy company, Orsted, one of the leaders in offshore wind power. In May last year, it announced that it was withdrawing from the development of another offshore wind farm, this time in UK waters. It subsequently announced in October that it intended to reduce its workforce by a quarter by the end of 2027.

Slowest growth in decades

Wind power did not have a poor year solely because of the external factors described above. Output from existing wind farms grew at its slowest pace in more than 20 years, according to Reuters, mainly due to lower wind power generation in Europe and North America.

Data from think tank Ember for the first 10 months of 2025 show that global wind generation reached 2 158 TWh, which, while a record high, represented year-on-year growth of only 7 %. For comparison, wind power generation grew by an average of 14 % year on year between 2015 and 2024.

China in the lead

China is one of the regions where wind power generation will record year-on-year growth of more than 10 % this year as well. It is also the global leader in wind power development and will account for more than 40 % of global wind generation in 2025.

"The rapid expansion of wind power in China means that global wind generation is likely to reach record levels in the coming years as well, despite slowing growth in the United States and an unfavourable situation in Europe," Reuters said.

Growth in China’s wind sector is being observed not only in power generation itself, but also in exports of components for wind farm construction. According to Ember data, these exports rose by more than 20 % year on year last year and exceeded $4 billion. Most exports went to Europe and Asia.