WindEurope on the potential of Ukrainian wind energy

As part of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Forum 2025, the European association WindEurope, in an exclusive comment for ExPro Electricity, highlighted Ukraine’s potential in the field of wind energy and emphasized the necessary steps for further development.

How does WindEurope assess Ukraine's long-term potential in the field of wind energy?

Ukraine has excellent wind energy potential. Wind is one of the cheapest forms of energy generation across Europe. Wind energy can play a central role in rebuilding Ukraine and designing a more modern and resilient energy system. And it is highly scalable: you can build a new wind farm much quicker than new gas, coal or nuclear power plants. That's wind's crucial advantage in the reconstruction of Ukraine. But perhaps even more important: wind energy is a homegrown energy source. It will help Ukraine become less dependent on imported fossil fuels and increase Ukraine's national security.

Germany is currently the strongest wind energy market in Europe, with around 30,000 operating onshore wind turbines. Ukraine has almost twice the landmass of Germany. This comes to show the huge potential for onshore wind in Ukraine. On top of that Ukraine can unlock its vast offshore wind potential in the Black Sea and Azov Sea. According to updated assessments from the Danish Technical University, this potential reaches around 50 GW: 20 GW for floating offshore wind and 30 GW for fixed-bottom offshore wind. Some of that potential is located in currently occupied areas.

For this year WindEurope expects Ukraine to add 300 MW of new onshore wind capacity. Next year we could see another 500 MW. Any predictions for the rest of the decade come with significant uncertainty.

What role could Ukraine play in the European energy balance after its integration into the EU?

This will largely depend on the speed and determination of the reconstruction process. How much new generation capacity can Ukraine install? And how long will it take? It will also depend on how fast domestic electricity demand is picking up again – especially the industrial demand. How fast will Ukraine's domestic economy rebound? In the long run, Ukraine can become a key partner for the rest of Europe. Mainly for the export of renewable electricity – perhaps also for the export of renewable hydrogen.

What domestic barriers are currently hindering the more active development of wind energy in Ukraine?

Ukraine's national renewable energy target aims for 27% of final energy consumption to come from renewables by 2030, requiring an additional 4 GW of installed wind power capacity. For comparison: today Ukraine has less than 2 GW total installed capacity. The wind energy sector in Ukraine continues to face several critical barriers: many of them centre around the financing of new assets. It would be understandable if international investors would shy away from investing in a country that's under Russian attack. But that's not the case. International investors financed 50% of the 258 MW installed between 2022-2025.

That's a reassuring sign of confidence. Nevertheless, Ukraine needs to play a bigger role in supporting wind energy development going forward. This includes overcoming current barriers around the design of the support mechanisms for wind energy in Ukraine.

What political or regulatory steps from Ukraine could strengthen its position in the European market?

Wind energy development is a cornerstone of decentralising and strengthening Ukraine's energy system, as outlined in key national strategies, including the Distributed Generation Development Strategy to 2035 and the National Renewable Energy Action Plan to 2030. Not least during wartime Ukraine cannot afford to delay the construction of a more resilient energy system. Regulatory simplification is urgently needed as part of this. The EU have now introduced the notion of overriding public interest for wind energy projects. Ukraine should adopt a similar approach to wind energy development.

What are the key trends shaping the wind energy market in Europe? How do you envision the EU's wind energy sector over the next 10 years?

European Governments are clear that wind is win-win economically and for energy security and that they want much more of it. Today Europe has 291 GW of wind energy capacity, generating 20% of all electricity consumed in Europe. The European Commission wants wind to be more than 50% of all electricity consumed in Europe by 2050. That's our mandate and our ambition. It puts wind energy in Europe on a steep growth trajectory. On the way, we need to address the main roadblocks hampering the expansion of wind energy across Europe.

These are: cumbersome permitting for new wind farms, insufficient electricity grid build-out and the slow uptake of electrification. Today electricity is only around one quarter of all the energy we consume in Europe. The rest is the fossil fuels we use to drive our cars, heat our homes and power our factories. Much of this can be electrified with existing technologies – electric vehicles, heat pumps, etc.

This will lead to a steep increase in the demand for electricity – and for additional wind farms.