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How old are the world's wind farms?

Most of them are young. Weighted by capacity, the wind farms operating today average 8.5 years old. Only 4.8% of their capacity came online in 2006 or before, 20 years ago or more, while 57% came online in the last ten years.

Today's wind farms, by the year they came online GW still operating
20 years old or more (online in 2006 or before)20 years old or more by 2030 (online from 2007 to 2010)Younger
02550751001990,1995,2000,2005,2010,2015,2020,20251990: 0.0 GW still operating, 36 years old1991: 0.0 GW still operating, 35 years old1992: 0.1 GW still operating, 34 years old1993: 0.1 GW still operating, 33 years old1994: 0.4 GW still operating, 32 years old1995: 0.4 GW still operating, 31 years old1996: 0.7 GW still operating, 30 years old1997: 0.9 GW still operating, 29 years old1998: 1.2 GW still operating, 28 years old1999: 2.4 GW still operating, 27 years old2000: 3.5 GW still operating, 26 years old2001: 5.6 GW still operating, 25 years old2002: 6.0 GW still operating, 24 years old2003: 7.8 GW still operating, 23 years old2004: 5.3 GW still operating, 22 years old2005: 9.7 GW still operating, 21 years old2006: 12.8 GW still operating, 20 years old2007: 16.7 GW still operating, 19 years old2008: 23.4 GW still operating, 18 years old2009: 34.6 GW still operating, 17 years old2010: 30.0 GW still operating, 16 years old2011: 40.3 GW still operating, 15 years old2012: 51.7 GW still operating, 14 years old2013: 36.2 GW still operating, 13 years old2014: 46.0 GW still operating, 12 years old2015: 57.0 GW still operating, 11 years old2016: 56.6 GW still operating, 10 years old2017: 49.3 GW still operating, 9 years old2018: 46.1 GW still operating, 8 years old2019: 53.9 GW still operating, 7 years old2020: 92.8 GW still operating, 6 years old2021: 88.5 GW still operating, 5 years old2022: 68.4 GW still operating, 4 years old2023: 86.9 GW still operating, 3 years old2024: 84.2 GW still operating, 2 years old2025: 96.1 GW still operating, 1 years old

2026 isn't drawn, as the year isn't over. The newest years are the least complete: registers and trackers add farms a year or more late, so our list holds 96 GW for 2025, against the 165 GW that GWEC counted for 2025.

By continent

Europe built first, so its farms are the oldest: 11.2 years on average, with 40.6 GW 20 years old or more. South America's and Asia's are the youngest, at about 7 years.

ContinentGWAverage age20 years +ShareBy 2030
World1,186.48.557.24.8%162.0
Asia627.07.04.10.6%39.6
Europe278.511.240.615%75.2
North America201.110.010.35.1%42.1
South America50.86.90.30.5%1.5
Oceania16.48.11.48.5%2.7
Africa12.28.30.65.2%0.9

GW: operating today. Average age in years, weighted by capacity. 20 years +: GW that came online in 2006 or before, and its share of the total. By 2030: GW that will be 20 years old or more by 2030.

By country

CountryGWAverage age20 years +ShareBy 2030
China543.46.92.40.4%32.5
United States171.39.88.14.7%36.3
Germany83.311.517.121%24.1
Brazil36.16.90.20.6%1.0
Spain31.616.611.737%18.8
United Kingdom31.610.12.16.6%5.3
France27.210.61.45.1%5.9
Canada19.111.31.89.6%4.5
Sweden18.58.20.63.3%1.9
Australia15.17.71.17.3%2.2
Turkey13.810.60.10.8%2.1
Netherlands12.07.20.21.4%1.1
Poland9.09.50.21.8%1.1
Finland8.65.20.00.1%0.1
Mexico8.410.70.22.1%1.1
Vietnam7.14.90.00.0%0.0
Chile6.35.70.00.0%0.2
Japan6.39.40.712%1.7
Portugal5.817.41.932%4.5
Greece5.510.90.815%1.5
Denmark5.414.21.629%2.3
Norway5.28.60.48.0%0.5
Argentina5.06.80.00.4%0.3
Taiwan4.65.40.23.5%0.7
Ireland4.410.90.48.8%1.1
South Africa4.47.80.00.0%0.0
Belgium4.210.00.11.2%0.7
Romania4.013.20.00.0%0.2
Austria3.114.51.135%1.1
Egypt3.09.00.618%0.6

The 30 countries with the most wind power, where we hold the year for at least four-fifths of it. India isn't here: we hold the year for too little of its capacity.

What happens when a wind farm gets old

The oldest wind farms were built to run for about 15 to 25 years. When one gets there, its owner can keep it running with new parts, replace its turbines with fewer, bigger ones (repowering), or take it down.

So far, most keep running. In Europe, WindEurope counted 34 GW of wind farms that had already run for more than 20 years, yet only 0.9 GW was taken down in 2025, against 19.1 GW built; Germany accounted for most of it. WindEurope expects about 16 GW to be decommissioned over 2026–2030, half of it repowered with about 17 GW of new turbines, and the rest removed. Repowering usually brings more capacity to the same site, as today's turbines are much bigger: see how turbines have grown.

Worldwide, retirements are small beside new building: GWEC counted 165 GW of new wind farms in 2025, taking the world to 1,299 GW, and expects 969 GW more over 2026–2030. The bigger test comes later. The farms built in the 2010s, 467 GW of today's fleet, turn 20 in the 2030s.

Sources: WindEurope, Wind energy in Europe: 2025 statistics and the outlook for 2026–2030 (February 2026); GWEC, Global Wind Report 2026 (April 2026).

Germany: the turbines taken down

Few registers record a turbine when it's taken down for good. Germany's does, since it opened in 2019: 3,010 turbines with 3.8 GW so far, almost all on land. In 2025, 717 MW went, at an average age of 22.0 years, while 958 turbines with 5,232 MW came online, 1,548 MW of them replacing old turbines on the same sites. The Fachagentur Wind und Solar finds no wave of shutdowns: old turbines are mostly taken down to make way for new ones. 2026 has already passed every full year, with 759 MW by the register's latest export.

Germany: wind turbines taken down for good MW a year; 2026 so far, drawn lighter
020040060080020192019: 92 MW taken down, 78 turbines, 17.6 years old on average20202020: 223 MW taken down, 207 turbines, 18.9 years old on average20212021: 303 MW taken down, 282 turbines, 19.7 years old on average20222022: 304 MW taken down, 293 turbines, 20.4 years old on average20232023: 599 MW taken down, 472 turbines, 20.4 years old on average20242024: 755 MW taken down, 604 turbines, 21.5 years old on average20252025: 717 MW taken down, 536 turbines, 22.0 years old on average20262026 so far: 759 MW taken down, 538 turbines, 23.2 years old on average

Units of 100 kW or more marked "permanently shut down" in the Marktstammdatenregister (core energy market data register) (Bundesnetzagentur, Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – 2.0), by the date of shutdown; average age weighted by capacity. Shutdowns before 2019 aren't in it. Ours agree with the Fachagentur's yearly counts from the same register (754 MW in 2024, 599 MW in 2023); its 631 MW for 2025 was counted in January, before late entries. New building and repowering in 2025: Fachagentur Wind und Solar, Status des Windenergieausbaus an Land in Deutschland, Jahr 2025.

How we count

Each operating farm counts at its full size in the year it came online, from our list of the world's wind farms: national registers where they exist and Global Energy Monitor's tracker elsewhere. A farm built in phases counts in the year it began; a repowered farm, in the year of its new turbines, as most registers record it. We hold the year for 95% of the operating capacity. As the newest years are the least complete, the fleet is, if anything, younger than shown.

Registers rarely record a farm when it's taken down, so a farm removed without a record could still be counted. The totals agree with WindEurope's: our list gives Europe 33.3 GW online in 2005 or before, against the 34 GW it counts as running for more than 20 years, and Germany 24.1 GW and Spain 18.8 GW online in 2010 or before, against its 22 GW and 20 GW older than 15 years (checked November 2026).

Farms ready for repoweringEvery operating farm of 15, 20 or 25 years and more, ranked by age, turbine size and how windy its site is, in the Wind app.
See the farms

See also: wind power, the year in review · how big are wind turbines? · the largest wind farms in the world.