Windletter Rewind – The best of 2025
Hello everyone and welcome to a new issue of Windletter. I'm Sergio Fernández Munguía (@Sergio_FerMun) and here we discuss the latest news in the wind power sector from a different perspective. If you're not subscribed to the newsletter, you can do so here.
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🎄Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the holidays with your loved ones and that you have a fantastic start to 2026. Don’t overdo it with the food and turrón, January is always a bit tougher afterwards 😁
This year’s holidays are especially meaningful for us, as we’re about to welcome a new member to the family 💙
Just like we did last year, it’s time for the Windletter Rewind 2025. I’ve decided to stick with that name because, honestly, it couldn’t be more fitting.
Let’s take this chance to look back at all the topics we’ve covered this year, and there have been quite a few. You don’t really realize it until you start listing them all…
Many hours of work behind 😁
⭐ Windletter Rewind: The best of 2025
Another year gone, and once again we say goodbye with a recap of Windletter’s highlights in 2025.
Wind turbines keep getting bigger, especially in the Chinese market, and that’s causing more than a few headaches for manufacturers. That’s why we kicked off the year with a look at why building large blades might not be as easy as it seems.
We published a two-part series (I and II) on wind resource assessment, ideal for anyone looking to understand the fundamentals of wind studies.
It’s been a year of highs and lows for floating wind. Back in January, there was optimism around the first large-scale projects inching closer to reality, with France, the UK and South Korea leading the way.
We also covered one of the biggest challenges in floating wind: O&M. We explored the need for pre-commercial wind farms to enable steady progress and even tried to make sense of the fine print in the French floating wind auction and the reasoning behind those prices.
As you know, innovation is something we love to follow closely. We’ve talked about the disruptive Windcatcher, a multi-turbine wind generator that has secured funding for a 40 MW prototype (!).
We also discussed the best innovations of 2024, based on the always-interesting Windpowermonthly ranking. And we’ve raised the question of whether the sector needs more innovation or standardisation.
In the year of artificial intelligence, we couldn’t leave out its application in the wind sector. We explained how next-day wind generation is forecasted and how AI can help you optimise your wind farm layout.
The electrification of the economy is a key point for the energy transition, and in connection with this, we analyzed the recent shift of many major utilities towards investment in grids and in generation forms referred to as “flexible”.
Of course, we always like to review sector reports and market intelligence, and for that the WindEurope annual report is a must. And of course, the GWEC report to get the global perspective.
Brinckmann’s forecasts on the market share of Western onshore manufacturers also took centre stage as one of our main topics, as did the top 10 manufacturers in 2024 according to Bloomberg data. We couldn’t miss the analysis of Chinese OEMs, whose sales outside their domestic market we also examined.
Small-scale wind also had its place in the form of a feature article, where we told the story of the wind farm on the island of Corvo, a unique case in the sector that I loved getting to know up close.
Another major topic this season, also written as a feature, was the 90 brand-new wind turbines put up for sale after years of waiting.
🇺🇸 Switching gears, it hasn’t been a good year for renewables in the United States. And although activity in onshore, solar PV, and storage remains intense, in offshore wind the Trump administration has completely destroyed the sector. It will take many years to recover, if it ever does.
There was also time to talk about wind turbine recycling and how, before turning to recycling, there are second-life uses. Getting a bit more technical, we explained the types of wind turbine drivetrains. Finally, we went on holiday recommending some spectacular transport videos to watch from the beach.
The European offshore sector has also faced some turbulence, although there are signs of green shoots beginning to emerge. The most striking issue has undoubtedly been Ørsted’s problems and the cancellation of Hornsea 4. Still, the UK’s AR7 auction is expected to bring good news. Motherf*ckin’ wind farms.
The history of wind energy also had its space this year, with a feature on the first offshore wind turbine in history. More stories like this will come, because I personally enjoy them a lot.
There was also time to talk about markets and prices. We asked ourselves whether LCOE is still as useful a metric as it once was, we discussed solar cannibalisation, and noted that wind still retains its market value.
We also found time to debunk myths, such as the recurring falsehood linking wildfires to wind farms.
It’s been a tough year for Siemens Gamesa in onshore, but also the year of the comeback for the successor to the SG5.X, now called the SG7.0.
As always, there was room to talk about giant turbines, with Dongfang and its 26 MW of power and 312-metre rotor taking the spotlight, the world’s largest floating turbine from Goldwind, and the spectacular 50 MW announced by Ming Yang for its dual-rotor platform. Not to mention the 300-metre-high tower currently being installed in Germany.
All this, and a few more things I’ve left in the inkwell, in Windletter.
🙏 Thank you for another year
Many thanks for being part of this journey for another year, because without you, none of this would make sense.
Thank you for all the comments, the explanations, the feedback, and for helping me keep growing by reading and sharing Windletter with your people.
Here’s to 2026! 🎉
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Disclaimer: The opinions presented in Windletter are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
Brilliant roundup of the year's wind power developments. The contrast between optimism in floating wind at the start of the year and the reality check from the Trump administration's offshore demolition really captures how volatile this sector can be. What's intresting to me is how innovation races ahead with 26MW turbines while markets struggle to make existing projects viable. I've always believed that sectors dealing with massive infrastructure needs this kind of long-view patience, but the gap betwen engineering ambition and policy consistency is getting harder to ignore.