The onshore wind potential of the EU and neighbouring countries

April 4, 2025
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This report presents Europe’s economically viable onshore wind energy potential at high geographical resolution (the JRC ENSPRESO 2 data set). It finds that in some scenarios, installable capacity and annual electricity generation are approximately double those previously estimated, indicating that onshore wind can play a much bigger role in the decarbonisation of Europe’s energy system than previously assessed. It also finds that policy decisions on setback distances have a significant impact on the available potential. ENSPRESO 2 builds on the original ENSPRESO project (ENergy Systems Potential Renewable Energy SOurces) which concluded in 2018. The updated version operates at an unprecedented resolution of 1 km2, incorporating newly available wind energy data sets and reflecting recent technological advances in wind energy technology, research and practices. ENSPRESO 2 therefore enables policymakers and energy planners to make fully up-to-date, spatially informed decisions about onshore wind energy deployment.

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