Europe’s wind buildout is moving from scale-up to system integration, and Southeast Europe is now trying to close the gap. By the end of 2025, Europe had installed 304 GW of wind capacity, including 265 GW onshore and 39 GW offshore, while 2025 additions alone reached 19.1 GW. The investment backdrop remains strong, with financing decisions totaling €45 billion and covering projects representing 20.9 GW of future installed capacity.
In the EU-27, new wind installations reached 15.1 GW in 2025, up 16% versus 2024, and wind supplied around 19% of total electricity consumption across the bloc. The operational challenge for developers and grid operators is increasingly similar across markets: connecting large volumes of variable generation requires transmission capacity, grid studies, and execution planning that can withstand permitting and procurement timelines. Northern and Western European experience shows what high penetration looks like, with Denmark generating roughly 50% of electricity from wind and Lithuania and Ireland reaching about 33%.
Southeast Europe remains small in installed base but is shifting toward new pipelines
Despite the continent-wide momentum, Southeast Europe still represents a limited share of Europe’s wind fleet. By the end of 2025, the region had approximately 2.56 GW of installed wind capacity, equating to less than 1% of Europe’s total. Historically, coal-fired generation and large hydropower have dominated regional power systems, which has contributed to slower wind deployment compared with Western and Northern Europe.
Recent years are showing a gradual change in investment behavior across the Western Balkans and neighboring markets. Croatia leads the region by installed capacity, followed by Serbia, while Montenegro, North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are building mid-scale development pipelines. Slovenia remains largely absent from regional wind activity, leaving it behind both regional and European averages as project development accelerates elsewhere.
Serbia’s wind buildout adds grid-connected volume in 2025
Serbia is now positioned as the second-largest Southeast European wind market, with 13 operational wind farms totaling 824.2 MW of installed capacity. The country’s execution momentum is reflected in grid connection outcomes: during 2025 alone, an additional 199 MW was connected to the Serbian grid, a 24% increase compared with 2024. For developers and EPC contractors, this kind of year-on-year connection performance typically depends on synchronized permitting progress, grid study approvals, and procurement packages that can be delivered on schedule.
The largest operating project in Serbia is Čibuk 1 at 158 MW, developed by Vetroelektrane Balkana d.o.o., with €270 million in financing provided by the IFC group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Another major asset is Kovačica wind farm at 104.5 MW, developed by Electrawinds K-Wind d.o.o., with an investment of approximately €189 million supported through loans from Erste Bank and EBRD. Additional operating capacity includes Alibunar at 42 MW (Elicio Ali VE d.o.o.) with €72 million investment and Malibunar at 8 MW.
Newer large projects underline how Serbia’s pipeline is diversifying across international sponsors and bankable structures. Čibuk 2 totals 154 MW and is backed by Masdar and Taaleri, with project financing provided by UniCredit Bank and Erste Bank and an estimated investment of €212 million. Pupin wind park near Kovačica adds a further 94 MW with an investment value of roughly €100 million.
State participation expands alongside private development
Beyond private developers, Serbia’s state-owned utility has also moved into wind implementation through Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS). EPS developed Kostolac wind park as its first utility-led wind project, delivering 66 MW through 20 turbines rated at 3.3 MW each on reclaimed land from former coal mining operations near Kostolac. This type of site conversion can influence engineering scope by requiring land remediation interfaces alongside turbine foundation design and grid tie-in works.
In eastern Serbia, Krivača represents another large investment at 103.3 MW with a value of €155 million, developed by MK Group together with Slovenian investment fund Alfi. The MK-Fintel Wind platform has contributed multiple projects to Serbia’s fleet as well: La Piccolina at 6.6 MW; Košava at 68 MW with an investment of €117 million financed through loans from Erste Bank, the Austrian Development Bank, UniCredit Bank Serbia and Zagrebačka Banka; and Kula at 9.9 MW valued at approximately €15 million.
Smaller facilities also continue to fill out the portfolio structure used by many developers to manage risk across sites and connection points. Alibunar I adds 9 MW through a €15.5 million investment by Rudis with Nova Ljubljanska Banka involved in financing arrangements. Devreč remains the smallest installation at a single turbine rated for 0.6 MW.
Croatia leads regional capacity while Montenegro prepares new connections
Croatia continues to hold the leading position in Southeast Europe by installed wind capacity. By November 2025 it had 29 operational wind farms totaling 1,181 MW under its transmission system operator data framework, alongside approved grid connection capacity of 1,156.85 MW; two additional projects were under construction or undergoing testing adding 83 MW. WindEurope data indicates Croatia had connected wind capacity of 1,264 MW by end-2025 including 27 MW installed during that year.
Among Croatia’s largest projects are Senj at 156 MW, Krš-Pađene at 142 MW, and ZD2P&3P at 125 MW—assets that collectively shape how developers plan future curtailment risk studies and dispatch assumptions for variable generation integration.
Montenegro’s sector remains smaller but is expanding gradually through staged commissioning rather than rapid additions in a single year. Its first major project was Krnovo commissioned in 2017 at 72 MW after development by Akuo Energy and Masdar; the €139 million investment was financed through loans from KfW and EBRD and includes a fleet of GE turbines numbering 26 units.
The second Montenegrin project is Možura commissioned in 2019 at 46 MW with investors including Enemalta plc from Malta and Shanghai Electric Power from China for an investment of approximately €90 million; together Krnovo and Možura total about 118 MW installed capacity. No new capacity was connected to Montenegro’s grid during 2025, but construction is underway on Gvozd wind park at 54 MW being developed by Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG), supported by an €82 million loan from EBRD—an execution signal that commissioning readiness will depend on construction completion plus grid readiness checks.
North Macedonia advances stepwise; Bosnia grows without new commissioning; Slovenia stays marginal
North Macedonia added momentum during 2025 with new installations totaling 30 MW to bring total national wind capacity to 103 MW. Bogdanci wind farm was commissioned in 2014 at 36.8 MW with an investment of €55.5 million developed by state-owned Elektrani na Severna Makedonija. A second project entered operation in 2023: Bogoslovec wind park at 36 MW featuring eight Siemens-Gamesa turbines developed through cooperation between BNB Kompani and the Green for Growth Fund (GGF).
Dren wind farm near Demir Kapija adds another step forward with trial operation entering late-2025; it totals 44 MW developed by Turkish company Kaltun Enerji with construction carried out by YEO Teknoloji. Additional capacity expected includes Rosoman at 30 MW while Štip wind complex—currently underway—targets a larger scale at about 400 MW with an estimated investment of €500 million developed by Alcazar Energy Partners.
Bosnia and Herzegovina shows steady but moderate growth without new commissioning during the year: by end-2025 it had installed wind capacity of 244 MW while no additional capacity was commissioned in that period. Mesihovina near Tomislavgrad was commissioned in 2018 at 50.6 MW as an €81 million project built by Elektroprivreda HZ BiH using Siemens turbines numbering up to twenty-two units; the utility also plans Poklečani as part of its next-stage development work.
Podveležje wind farm developed by Elektroprivreda BiH includes fifteen turbines totaling combined capacity of 48 MW producing approximately 120 GWh annually each year; future developments include Bitovnja up to around 90 MW and Vlašić up to around 50 MW. Private developer activity includes Jelovača at 36 MW entering operation in 2019 developed by F.L. Wind; Ivovik reaches the largest scale so far at about eighty-four megawatts commissioned in 2024 by Lager d.o.o Posušje together with China National Technical Import and Export Corporation (CNTIC), while Ivan Sedlo under development targets about twenty-five megawatts using five Siemens Gamesa models rated as Siemens Gamesa five-point-zero turbines.
Slovenia remains marginal as a wind market compared with its neighbors’ expansion pace. Its first project Dolenja Vas was commissioned in 2012 by Alpen Adria Energie using a single Enercon turbine rated for a total capacity of about 2.3 MW; another small installation exists at around one turbine rated for roughly zero-point-nine megawatts but overall national totals remain negligible relative to regional levels.
2030 outlook points to doubling potential but depends on permitting and transmission readiness
Forecasts indicate Southeast Europe could accelerate over the coming decade if pipeline execution aligns with infrastructure constraints. Across Europe overall projections suggest that between now and mid-decade about one hundred fifty-one gigawatts could be added between years spanning from late-2026 through end-2030 on average around thirty gigawatts per year; within EU-27 about one hundred twelve gigawatts is expected even though this sits below an EU target requiring about four hundred twenty-five gigawatts by end-2030.
For technology mix planning relevant to developers’ EPC preparation cycles, roughly seventy-seven percent of new installations are expected to remain onshore while repowering older turbines should raise generation without expanding turbine counts significantly due to more efficient models replacing legacy equipment.
For Southeast Europe specifically projections suggest regional installed wind could exceed about five-point-one-nine gigawatts by end-2030 if around two-point-six gigawatts of currently planned projects are successfully developed—equivalent to a projected increase of about one hundred three percent versus current installed levels near two-point-five-six gigawatts today.
By end-2030 forecasts indicate Serbia could reach around two thousand one hundred megawatts installed wind capacity followed by Croatia near one thousand six hundred forty megawatts; North Macedonia about five hundred twenty megawatts; Bosnia and Herzegovina around five hundred ten megawatts; Montenegro near three hundred ten megawatts; Slovenia could exceed one hundred megawatts if additional projects proceed beyond its current limited base.
For Serbia and the wider region this next phase will require alignment between permitting timelines, transmission infrastructure upgrades, stable investment frameworks, and engineering delivery readiness so that grid connection studies can translate into actual commissioning schedules rather than extended development delays.
Taken together across Croatia’s operational leadership profile—supported by approved connection capacities—and Serbia’s expanding portfolio driven by both private developers and EPS implementation experience on reclaimed coal-mining land sites, Southeast Europe’s next wave will hinge on how quickly permitting processes move alongside transmission modernization planning for variable generation integration.