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Europe’s first generation of turbines is reaching retirement age. Some of the oldest farms, occupying Europe’s best wind sites, have already reached end-of-life and are operating less efficient turbines. According to WindEurope, about 20% of Europe’s 90,000 onshore turbines are 15 years old or older. Modernisation (rather than decommissioning or extending maintenance) is therefore essential to maximising potential. Between 2023 and 2030, 83 GW of European onshore wind power will reach 15 years of age – well past middle age for technology with a 20–25 year lifespan. WindEurope projects that of this aging capacity, only about 6.7% will be repowered.
Repowering projects are increasingly looking to combine wind generation with on-site BESS, as in the Wind Park Hartel 2 project in the Netherlands. Investors such as Triodos Energy Transition Europe Fund also recognise the important role of storage in these projects, saying: “Energy storage at the parks also plays a crucial role in coping with the peaks and troughs in electricity generation. Batteries can therefore no longer be ignored in the (re)development of wind and solar farms.”
Yet, progress is uneven across Europe. Germany hosts more than half of all repowered projects, while Spain – Europe’s second-largest onshore wind market – accounts for just 3%, despite massive potential. Grid connection difficulties, restrictive height regulations, and cumbersome permitting processes are slowing the uptake that could transform Europe’s renewable energy landscape.
The potential
According to consulting firm Sia, Europe must achieve 250 GW of wind power installations by 2030 to reach its targets, with repowering offering a pathway to contribute an additional 65 GW through 2030. Since the oldest wind farms are usually in the best wind sites (and have small and less efficient turbines), there’s a clear opportunity to maximise energy production from Europe’s prime wind locations through modernisation. But, of the 83 GW reaching 15+ years by 2030, WindEurope projects only 5.6 GW will be repowered, 70 GW life-extended, and 7.8 GW decommissioned.
Repowering typically triples wind farm output and quadruples output per turbine. It can also reduce the total number of turbines required by 25%. The UK, for example, has about 1.3 GW of onshore wind that will reach the end of its operating life by 2030 and approximately 2.2 GW by 2035. Another example, Spain, has an estimated potential of 15 GW in the repowering segment.
What does repowering involve?
Repowering usually means dismantling old turbines and replacing them with fewer, higher-capacity, more efficient models. This often requires repositioning turbines due to their larger size, triggering a new approval process that can be equivalent to building an entirely new wind farm. A challenge is that regulatory hurdles frequently complicate these projects: existing permits typically don’t transfer to new turbines, and some jurisdictions may even prohibit rebuilding on the same site. In many cases, authorities lack clear guidelines for repowering, leaving developers navigating uncertain regulatory territory where rules simply don’t exist yet.
The complete dismantling process removes every component from blades to foundations, with materials either recycled or disposed of properly before restoring unused land to its natural state.
Up to 85–90% of turbine materials are now recyclable, with ongoing innovation in blade recycling as part of improved recycling and circularity practices.
BESS’s contribution to repowering
As mentioned, repowered sites can produce significantly more electricity with greater peaks and variability, creating new challenges for grid integration. BESS is increasingly essential to store surplus energy, enable flexibility, and provide frequency regulation services for the grid. New repowering projects that combine wind generation with on-site BESS improve the value of the project, enabling participation in ancillary services markets and maximising grid export during peaks. This co-location trend is part of the move towards solutions that address both generation and grid stability requirements.
Battery storage systems can play several critical roles in repowered wind farms, including smoothing intermittent wind power output, providing flexibility to balance supply and demand, and enabling better use of grid connections. Additional opportunities include arbitrage between low and high electricity prices, participation in balancing markets, and congestion management to alleviate grid constraints. The FLEXITRANSTORE project in Greece, for example, integrated BESS at a wind park to provide frequency and voltage regulation and improve grid stability. In the UK and Germany, national grids and local projects are increasingly combining BESS with new and repowered wind to maximise renewable penetration and grid reliability.
The European repowering picture
The repowering of wind farms is not equally distributed between EU Member States and the UK, with significant variations in adoption and policy support across the continent.
- Germany leads with more than half of all repowered projects located here – it’s one of the biggest markets for wind energy and home to many first-generation wind farms now reaching end-of-life.
- Spain, Europe’s second-largest onshore wind energy market with much repowering potential, hosts only 3% of repowered projects. Grid connections for repowered wind farms are so difficult to get that developers prefer to simply keep the old turbines running.
- France is missing out on the advantages of repowering due to their restrictive tip height rules that don’t allow developers to build the latest and most efficient onshore wind turbines.
- The UK offers promise with policy changes allowing fully repowered onshore wind projects to participate in the Contracts for Difference (CfD) regime from mid-2025.
Despite the clear benefits of repowering, many EU Member States lack effective repowering strategies, leaving significant potential untapped across Europe.
Policy support
EU policy framework
The European Commission has put forward key permitting and repowering provisions in the revised Renewable Energy Directive. This gives repowering projects a targeted 6-month permitting decision timeline, potentially opening up more tender and support opportunities through national plans. As part of its REPowerEU Plan and European Wind Power Action Plan, the EU has passed new legislation, including the Emergency Regulation on Renewables Permitting, which seeks to facilitate repowering renewables projects through expediting the permitting process.
UK policy support
In 2024, the UK government removed a de facto ban on onshore wind in England. From CfD Allocation Round 7, expected in mid-2025, repowering onshore wind projects that meet the required criteria will be allowed to apply for a CfD, with forward bidding permitted so projects are not required to decommission and lose their revenue stream before applying.
Overall barriers to repowering in the EU
- Permitting challenges – overly cumbersome and lengthy permitting procedures are holding back the much-needed uptake of repowering. Many Member States have yet to implement streamlined procedures despite EU policy direction.
- Grid access presents major obstacles, as securing new or upgraded grid connections can be difficult and expensive, especially in markets like Spain, where this is stunting repowering progress.
- Site restrictions that include limiting blade-tip height regulations, which prevent the use of higher-capacity next-generation turbines.
- Economic factors – some sites cannot access adequate financial incentives, and the lack of subsidies or suitable revenue stabilisation like CfDs can make repowering uneconomic compared to operating old assets.
Onshore wind repowering is poised for significant growth as market incentives and policy reforms streamline the process across Europe. For countries with limited suitable wind sites, repowering is an important solution. Higher-capacity installations on proven locations can compensate for land scarcity and accelerate progress toward energy targets. Technical feasibility, improving economics, and increasingly supportive regulatory frameworks at both national and European levels are likely to create the conditions for scaled deployment. This alignment makes repowering projects particularly attractive for BESS developers seeking established grid connections and proven wind resources.
