The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is expected to add 14 gigawatts of new wind power capacity in the next five years, according to latest Global Wind Report by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

Between 2022 and 2026, new wind power capacity additions in the Africa and Middle East region would be led by South Africa (5.4 GW), Egypt (2.2 GW), Morocco (1.8 GW) and Saudi Arabia (1.3 GW), the report said.

The report said 2021 was the second-best year ever for the global wind industry after 2020 with almost 94 GW of capacity added despite a second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Onshore installations in the MEA region increased by 120 percent in 2021, the report noted.

GWEC has estimated that 557 GW of new wind power capacity, with onshore accounting for 84 percent, will be added globally in the next five years under current policies.

(Reporting by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)