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After many years in the doldrums, Spain is making a strong comeback and is forecast to have 39.7GW online by 2029. Ambitious decarbonisation plans and falling costs are seen as key drivers for the expected growth.

Fitch Solutions’ forecasts are aligned with those by “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç Intelligence (WPI), the research and data arm of “uåX˜äŠÊ˜·³Ç, which sees Spain increasing its capacity to 34GW by 2026.

According to WPI, Spain is currently on track to add more than 1GW of wind capacity annually. By contrast, this time two years ago it was forecast to add less than half that amount.

Strong growth in the US

Fitch Solutions researchers forecast the US to achieve 174GW of installed wind capacity by 2029, on the back of supportive policies at state level and the rise of corporate energy procurements. 

They also note that offshore wind now makes up more than a third of the US project pipeline.

According to WPI, the US had a very strong month in April, when nine out of the ten largest onshore wind farms commissioned worldwide were located in the US (below).

Data released by the US' Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) indicate that wind, solar and hydropower provided all of the 1,328MW in new electricity capacity added in April 2020 in the US.

FERC reports that renewable energy sources now account for nearly 23% of installed generating capacity in the US, against 17% this time five years ago. Wind power’s share has increased from 5.74% to 9.08%.

Offshore, Taiwan is poised to continue to attract investor interest over the decade, according to Fitch Solutions, with nearly 8GW of capacity in the pipeline.