A wind farm or wind park, or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an extensive area. Wind farms can be either onshore or offshore.
As of 2023, Europe had a total installed wind capacity of 255 gigawatts (GW). In 2017, a total of 15,680 MW of wind power was installed, representing 55% of all new power capacity, and the wind power generated 336 TWh of electricity, enough to supply 11.6% of the EU's electricity consumption.
Wind power' is a major source of energy in Portugal. At the end of 2020, wind power capacity in Continental Portugal was 5,456 MW. In 2020, wind power represented 23.7% of total electricity generation.
Wind power in Finland has been the fastest growing source of electricity in recent years. In 2024, Finland covered 24% of the yearly electricity demand with wind power production, which was 25% of domestic production. Wind capacity was up 20% from the previous year and wind production up 37%. This compares to an average wind power share of 19% in the EU.
In 2021 France reached a total of 18,676 megawatts (MW) installed wind power capacity placing France at that time as the world's seventh largest wind power nation by installed capacity, behind the United Kingdom and Brazil and ahead of Canada and Italy. According to the IEA the yearly wind production was 20.2 TWh in 2015, representing almost 23% of the 88.4 TWh from renewable sources in France during that year. Wind provided 4.3% of the country's electricity demand in 2015.
The Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm is the largest onshore wind farm in Romania and in Europe, with installed nameplate capacity of 600 MW from 240 General Electric 2.5xl wind turbines. The wind farm has been built for the Czhech ČEZ Group.
Wind power is a growing source of electricity in Poland. In 2019, wind was the second most important source of electricity produced in Poland, after coal, accounting for about 10% of the electricity production.
Wind power in Italy, at the end of 2015, consisted of more than 1,847 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 8,958 megawatts. In 2019, Italy generated 20,054 GWh of electricity from wind power, equal to 7.1% of the total electricity generation.
Energy in Belgium describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Belgium.
Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of capacity installed. Offshore wind farms are also less controversial than those on land, as they have less impact on people and the landscape.
The EDP Cernavodă Wind Farm is located in Cernavodă, Constanța County, Romania. It has 46 individual wind turbines, each with a nominal output of around 3 MW, with a total capacity of 138 MW. This capacity is sufficient to power over 85,000 homes. The project, which involved a capital investment of approximately €200 million, was commissioned between 2010 and May 2011.
The installed capacity of wind power in Hungary was 329 MW as of April 2011. Most of wind farms are in the Kisalföld region.
The electricity sector in France is dominated by its nuclear power, which accounted for 71.7% of total production in 2018, while renewables and fossil fuels accounted for 21.3% and 7.1%, respectively. France has the largest share of nuclear electricity in the world, and together with renewable energy supplies, this has helped its grid achieve very low carbon intensity.
Energy in Hungary describes energy and electricity production, consumption and import in Hungary. Energy policy of Hungary describes the politics of Hungary related to energy.
Despite the historic usage of wind power to drain water and grind grain, the Netherlands today lags 21 of the 26 other member states of the European Union in the consumption of energy from renewable sources. In 2022, the Netherlands consumed just 15% of its total energy from renewables. According to statistics published by Eurostat, it was the last among the EU countries in the shift away from global warming-inducing energy sources. The leading renewable sources in the country are biomass, wind, solar and both geothermal and aerothermal power. In 2018 decisions were made to replace natural gas as the main energy source in the Netherlands with increased electrification being a major part of this process.
Renewable energy in Lithuania constitutes a growing source of energy in the country.
Hungary is a member of the European Union and thus takes part in the EU strategy to increase its share of renewable energy. The EU has adopted the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive, which included a 20% renewable energy target by 2020 for the EU. By 2030 wind should produce in average 26-35% of the EU's electricity and save Europe €56 billion a year in avoided fuel costs. The national authors of Hungary forecast is 14.7% renewables in gross energy consumption by 2020, exceeding their 13% binding target by 1.7 percentage points. Hungary is the EU country with the smallest forecast penetration of renewables of the electricity demand in 2020, namely only 11%.
In 2008, Net electricity use in Portugal was 51.2 TWh. Portugal imported 9 TWh electricity in 2008. Population was 10.6 million.
Wind power generated 2% of electricity in 2023. By the end of 2020 almost 1 GW of onshore wind power had been installed. It has been estimated that there is potential for at least another 2 GW by 2030. The total wind power grid-connected capacity in Bulgaria was 702 MW as of 2023.
