On the back of the European continent, seeing record of wind and solar power installations in 2025, the first months of 2026 have responded with strong wind power outputs, setting records in several countries.
In the first months of 2026, Europe’s rapidly expanding wind fleet has been generating at or near-unprecedented levels, which are reshaping electricity markets – especially in the wake of the ongoing Middle East geopolitical conflict, which has triggered an oil and gas crisis.
Europe’s record-breaking winds
The opening months of 2026 have seen some of the strongest wind generation levels on record across Europe.
This has been driven by a combination of favourable weather patterns and rapidly expanding wind power capacity onshore, but particularly offshore.
In the first two months of 2026, wind power consistently delivered around 20–25% of total electricity generation across the European continent. Several periods and locations pushed wind power’s share in electricity generation even higher, with some countries recording near of 100% wind power generation of the total electricity demand. For extended periods, in multiple countries, wind power was the dominant source of electricity.
Countries setting new bars for wind power generation
The UK recorded all-time wind generation highs anew in January, where wind power supplied over 70% of electricity demand during peak hours.
These are not spikes out of the blue, but part of a trend of the country continuing to set high wind power generation outputs as they rapidly scale up generating capacity.
Denmark
In the first three months of the year, Denmark on several occasions exceeded 100% of domestic electricity demand, allowing one of the world’s leading wind power countries to utilise its advanced wind power infrastructure to export excess electricity via interconnector to neighbouring Norway, Sweden and Germany.
Netherlands
The Netherlands benefited from recent wind power additions, which allowed the country to set new output records and new offshore wind projects in the North Sea obtained grid connection.
Portugal
Portugal, which enjoys some of the cheapest electricity prices in Europe, in combination with hydro power and wind power generation, reached new highs.
Not a hype, but a trend
As a response to the crisis in the Middle East, the European Union (EU) as well as individual countries like the UK are increasingly seeing renewable energy as not a nice to have but as being fundamental to energy security, to reduce its alliance on oil and gas shocks, but also from Russia, the US and countries in the Arab world and the Middle East.
Analysts expect these records not to be a one-off, but part of a longer ongoing trend that is already reshaping electricity markets.
Anders Lorenzen is the founding Editor of A greener life, a greener world.
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