Wind power in 2020
Wind turbines made 1,592 TWh of electricity in 2020, 6.0% of all the world's, up 12.0% on 2019.
| Wind generation | 1,592 TWh |
|---|---|
| Share of the world's electricity | 6.0% |
| Change on 2019 | +171 TWh (+12.0%) |
| Solar generation, for comparison | 853 TWh (3.2%) |
Where wind grew most
| Country | 2020, TWh | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 467 | +61 | +15.1% |
| United States | 338 | +42 | +14.2% |
| United Kingdom | 76 | +12 | +18.5% |
| Sweden | 28 | +7.7 | +38.6% |
| Germany | 132 | +6.2 | +4.9% |
| France | 40 | +5.3 | +15.4% |
| Argentina | 9.4 | +4.4 | +88.2% |
| Norway | 9.9 | +4.4 | +79.5% |
| Netherlands | 15 | +3.8 | +32.7% |
| Australia | 23 | +3.1 | +16.1% |
The biggest producers of wind power
| Country | 2020, TWh | Share of the world's wind | On 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | 467 | 29.3% | +15.1% |
| United States | 338 | 21.2% | +14.2% |
| Germany | 132 | 8.3% | +4.9% |
| United Kingdom | 76 | 4.8% | +18.5% |
| India | 60 | 3.8% | −4.5% |
| Brazil | 57 | 3.6% | +1.9% |
| Spain | 56 | 3.5% | +1.4% |
| France | 40 | 2.5% | +15.4% |
| Canada | 36 | 2.2% | +8.8% |
| Sweden | 28 | 1.7% | +38.6% |
The biggest wind farms that began generating in 2020
| # | Wind farm | Country | Capacity | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hornsea 1 | United Kingdom | 1,218 MW | Offshore |
| 2 | Qinghai Hainan Prefecture (State Power Investment) High Voltage Windpower Export Project Section 1 | China | 1,000 MW | Onshore |
| 3 | Borssele I & II offshore wind farm | Netherlands | 752 MW | Offshore |
| 4 | Lagoa Dos Ventos wind farm | Brazil | 717 MW | Onshore |
| 5 | East Anglia ONE | United Kingdom | 714 MW | Offshore |
| 6 | Henan Puyang (Huaneng) wind farm | China | 650 MW | Onshore |
| 7 | Aviator Wind | United States | 525 MW | Onshore |
| 8 | Sagamore Wind | United States | 523 MW | Onshore |
| 9 | Cheyenne Ridge | United States | 496 MW | Onshore |
| 10 | Maverick Creek | United States | 492 MW | Onshore |
From our list of the world's wind farms, which holds 1,133 farms with 92.9 GW whose first turbines generated in 2020; a farm built in phases counts in the year it began, at its full size. It isn't complete: registers and trackers add farms a year or more late, and some of China's biggest projects are listed whole though built in phases.
The turbines
The average new onshore turbine in 2020:
- United States: 2.8 MW, with a 127 m rotor
- Germany: 3.5 MW, with a 125 m rotor
- Sweden: 4.2 MW, with a 142 m rotor
- Canada: 4.1 MW, with a 134 m rotor
Sources
Electricity: Ember's yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0), which gathers each country's official statistics; countries without figures for 2020 yet are left out of the country tables, and the newest year can still be revised. Wind farms: national registers and Global Energy Monitor; see data sources.
Other years: 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025