Germany brought 423 new onshore wind turbines online with a combined capacity of 2,363 megawatts in the first half of 2026, a seven percent increase over the same period last year, while newly permitted capacity reached a record 9.1 gigawatts. Onshore wind generated 53.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, accounting for 23 percent of Germany's total power production.
Expansion varied sharply by state. North Rhine-Westphalia led with a net addition of 502 megawatts, followed by Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. Bavaria added 59 megawatts from 11 turbines, a more than 40 percent increase year-on-year, though its total installed capacity remains four percent of the national figure. Thuringia connected just one turbine, a six-megawatt replacement unit, as its newly installed capacity dropped 74.4 percent. Saxony recorded a net gain of only 11 megawatts and holds the oldest fleet, with an average turbine age of 21 years.
Despite the uptick, the national target of 84 gigawatts of installed capacity by the end of 2026 appears unlikely to be met. As of June, roughly 29,250 turbines with 70 gigawatts of capacity were in operation nationwide.