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Europe Wind Power Capacity Tops 311 GW After H1 Expansion, WindEurope Says

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Europe, including EU and non-EU members, added 8.8 gigawatts of wind power capacity in H1, bringing total installations to more than 311 GW, according to WindEurope's analysis on Tuesday.

Of the new installations, 74% or 6.5 GW was onshore wind capacity, led by Germany at 3.4 GW. The UK and Spain added 789 megawatts and 612 MW, respectively.

Meanwhile, new offshore wind power capacity accounted for 2.3 GW, all of which was connected to the grid, the industry association said.

Five countries awarded support to 17.2 GW of wind energy capacity in H1 while European governments plan to grant support to more than 24 GW of capacity in H2.

In terms of investment, a total of 9 billion euros ($10.43 billion) was raised during the period to help finance 5.2 GW of new capacity, which is expected to be installed in the coming years, according to WindEurope.

By 2030, wind energy capacity in Europe is expected to reach 436 GW, with the EU accounting for 342 GW, the analysis showed.

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