Best Wind Energy Stocks

Wind energy has been growing rapidly. Wind turbines produced about 10% of U.S. power in 2023. Most of that wind energy came from the country's midsection; Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Illinois produced 59% of the country's wind power.

The clean power source should continue growing at a rapid rate. President Biden has set ambitious goals of achieving 100% clean electricity by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions for the economy by 2050. His administration has successfully pushed for the passage of several incentives to spur new investments, which should help drive additional growth for wind-focused companies. Of note, the country is in the early stages of tapping the massive potential of offshore wind along the East Coast.

With wind energy demand expected to keep growing, companies focused on the sector should benefit. Here's a closer look at some of the best ways to invest in wind energy:

Top wind energy stocks to watch in 2025

Companies in the wind industry tend to fall into the following categories:

• Wind turbine and component manufacturers: These companies benefit from growing wind energy demand because it helps to drive sales growth. However, they face potential demand, competitive, and cost pressures.
• Wind power producers: These companies own and operate turbines that produce wind energy, which they sell to end users, such as electric utilities and large corporate buyers. Most wind producers sell power under government-regulated rate structures or long-term, fixed-rate power purchase agreements (PPA) that generate steady revenue.

Although wind energy is growing in importance, few companies focus solely on manufacturing wind turbines and components or producing wind energy. Only a couple trade on major U.S. stock exchanges. That leaves investors with few domestic pure-play wind energy investment opportunities.

Because of the limited pure plays, investors need to cast a wider net when looking for opportunities in the wind energy sector. With that in mind, here are some of the top wind energy stocks to consider:

NextEra Energy is a major renewable energy company. It operates the largest electric utility in Florida and also has a large-scale energy resources business.

NextEra's energy resources segment is one of the largest producers of wind power in the world. As of mid-2024, it had 21 gigawatts (GW) of operating wind generation capacity when including its investment in XPLR Infrastructure (NYSE:XIFR). Overall, 60% of its subsidiary's generation capacity is wind energy.

The company is an active developer of new wind energy projects. It expects to build as much as 11.5 GW of new wind energy capacity by 2027. In addition, it has as much as 1.9 GW of wind repowering projects in its pipeline. These investments replace older wind turbines with newer, larger ones capable of generating more electricity. NextEra Energy is also a leader in using battery storage to help reduce the intermittency of its wind and solar energy assets.

Although not a pure wind energy play, NextEra is a leader in the sector, making it a solid option to consider. It also has an excellent track record of increasing shareholder value, including its dividend.

2. GE Vernova

GE Vernova is a global energy company focused on the power, wind, and electrification markets. The company was part of General Electric before the former industrial company broke apart. It spun off GE Vernova to shareholders in 2024.

GE Vernova energy business is one of the global leaders in manufacturing, installing, and servicing wind turbines. It has installed more than 55,000 units around the world. The installed base generates recurring service revenue.

In addition, GE Vernova has a large and growing backlog of onshore and offshore wind development projects that should produce steady growth in the coming years. Although it's not a pure wind energy play, GE Vernova gives investors exposure to the sector and the overall lower carbon energy trend given its large gas turbine business.

3. Vestas Wind Systems

Siemens Energy is a global energy leader. Roughly one-sixth of the world's power comes from its technology. Its operations include gas services, Siemens Gamesa (a leading wind energy company based in Spain), and grid technologies.

In 2023, Siemens Energy acquired the rest of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy that it didn't already own. This enabled it to take full control over the troubled wind turbine maker and implement its turnaround plan.

Siemens Gamesa has installed 137 GW of wind turbines worldwide, which produce enough clean electricity to power 126 million homes. The company provides services on more than 84 GW of this capacity. Given the view that wind will supply 20% of the world's power by 2030, it has a long growth runway.

5. Brookfield Renewable

Brookfield Renewable is a leading global clean energy infrastructure company. It has 32.5 GW of operating assets, including 8.3 GW of hydroelectric power, 11.3 GW of wind, 7.2 GW of utility-scale solar, and 5.7 GW of distributed generation (e.g., rooftop and community solar) and storage capacity. It also has a growing sustainable solutions platform with carbon capture and storage, biofuels production, recycling, solar panel manufacturing, and nuclear services. In addition, Brookfield has more than 200 GW of development projects in its pipeline, including 34.2 GW of onshore wind and 3 GW offshore.

Brookfield takes a diversified approach to investing in clean energy. However, wind is a big part of its future. The company and its institutional partners agreed to acquire Leap Green in 2024, a leading wind-focused renewables business in India. It had 500 MW of operating assets and another 3 GW in its development pipeline.

Recent investments have expanded Brookfield's capacity to build and operate wind farms. They also support Brookfield's strategy to boost its high-yielding dividend (more than 5% in mid-2024) in the coming years. That makes it an ideal stock for investors seeking a partially wind-powered passive income stream.

6. Clearway Energy

Clearway Energy is one of the largest renewable energy operators in the U.S. It has more than 6.5 GW of wind and solar energy projects and 2.5 GW of natural gas generation facilities. These facilities supply Clearway with stable cash flow backed by long-term contracts, allowing it to pay an attractive dividend (an almost 6% yield in mid-2024).

Clearway primarily grows by acquiring operating wind and solar power plants from developers, allowing them to recycle capital into new investments. It has several investments lined up that should support dividend growth at or near the top end of its 5% to 8% annual target range through 2026.

The company has a strategic relationship with renewable project developer Clearway Energy Group, a company co-owned by Global Infrastructure Partners and TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE). Its partners develop new wind and solar energy projects, which Clearway can acquire to help support its growing dividend. The strategy makes it another excellent option for those seeking a partially wind-powered passive income stream.

7. Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy is a leading utility that distributes electricity and natural gas to over 4.5 million customers across 13 states. Its largest electric utility is Dominion Energy Virginia (DEV), which has 2.8 million customers.

The company is investing heavily to maintain and expand its operations so it can deliver on its customers' growing need for electricity. Among its notable investments is a large offshore wind project to support growing power demand within DEV's service area. Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) is a 2.6-GW project that will supply clean energy to 660,000 customers when completed in 2026.

The company acquired a 400,000-acre lease in 2024 to expand its offshore wind production. CVOW-South could support an additional 800 MW of offshore wind generation capacity in the 2030s.

8. First Trust Global Wind Energy ETF

Here's a closer look at these top wind energy stocks:

1. NextEra Energy

Denmark-based Vestas is a global leader in the wind energy sector. It designs, manufactures, installs, develops, and services wind energy and hybrid projects worldwide. It has installed more than 177 GW of wind turbines in 88 countries.

Like GE Vernova, Vestas doesn't just sell and install wind turbines; it generates some recurring income from servicing them after installation. The company has service contracts covering more than 100 GW of wind power. These contracts help to offset some of the variability in wind turbine sales. Vestas' focus on wind turbines makes it one of the few large-scale, pure-play wind energy investments.

4. Siemens Energy

First Trust Global Wind Energy is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) focused on investing in wind energy stocks. The ETF invests in pure-play wind companies that get at least 50% of their revenue from wind-related activities (60% of the fund) and diversified companies involved in some aspect of the wind energy industry (40% of the fund).

As of mid-2024, it held more than 55 wind energy stocks. Of note, its top 10 holdings included Vestas Wind Systems, Siemens Energy, and NextEra Energy. The ETF has a heavy concentration of foreign-listed wind energy stocks; Denmark-listed wind stocks made up the largest country share of its portfolio, at almost 17%. The ETF's broad focus across the wind energy sector makes it an ideal option for investors who want to bet on the long-term global growth of wind energy but don't want to select individual wind energy stocks.

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Wind energy should be a good long-term investment

Wind energy plays an important role in reducing carbon emissions and the long-term impact of climate change. Capacity should be added in the coming years, benefiting the wind sector.

However, it isn't likely to be a smooth ride. Rising steel prices, slowing economic growth, and changing government incentives could hurt the wind sector in the coming years. Investors should consider taking a basket approach and investing in more than one wind stock. They can purchase an ETF to gain exposure to the broader sector or buy shares in several wind-focused stocks, reducing risk and putting them in a better position to benefit from the upside ahead for the wind energy sector.