A report from the trade association has said that while the pandemic may have paused some projects, there are still 348 gigawatts of new onshore and offshore capacity expected by the end of 2024, with the cost of wind energy also falling rapidly. “While some project completion dates have been pushed into 2021 due to the pandemic, next year is expected to be a record year for the wind industry with 78 GW (gigawatts) of new wind capacity forecast to be installed in 2021,” the report said. “Over 50% of the onshore wind capacity added between 2020 to 2024 will be installed in China and the U.S., led by installation rushes to meet subsidy deadlines.” A separate report by RenewableUK, focusing on wind energy in Britain, suggests that the country could be ready to double its current operational capacity. With technology costs falling and an appetite from governments to cut carbon emissions, wind power could be the answer. “Now that onshore wind is firmly back on the table, companies are bringing forward projects at a scale that can make a huge contribution to building back greener. Onshore wind is one of the cheapest ways to generate clean power and we can ramp up this technology rapidly to reach net zero emissions,” said Renewable UK’s Head of Policy, Rebecca Williams.