Germany commissioned 587 wind turbines totalling 3,948 MW between January and July 2026, against 484 turbines and 2,584 MW in the same period a year earlier — a 53 per cent increase in capacity terms.
Offshore drove the change. No offshore turbines at all were commissioned in the equivalent period of 2025; this year 92 offshore machines with roughly 1,194 MW came online. Most of that capacity came from Borkum Riffgrund 3 and EnBW’s He Dreiht, with two turbines at Nordseecluster 1.
Solar was close to flat. Some 484,530 new installations totalling 9,572 MW were registered, compared with 581,765 installations and 9,464 MW a year earlier — nearly 17 per cent fewer systems for about 1 per cent more capacity. The figures come from the Marktstammdatenregister maintained by the Federal Network Agency.
Generation followed the same direction. German wind feed-in reached 82.31 billion kWh between 1 January and 20 August 2026, against 73.09 billion kWh at the same point last year. Across Europe wind produced 285.36 billion kWh in the period, up from 264.52 billion kWh.
The offshore rebound is the number to watch. Germany’s pipeline was widely described as stalling after the zero-bid auction round, but the capacity now reaching the grid was contracted years earlier — a reminder that today’s commissioning figures reflect decisions taken well before the current auction design debate.
Source: IWR Energieletter 33 and 34/2026, Marktstammdatenregister data.
