According to a recent report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) the USA has surpassed Germany and is now the leader in wind power installations.
Total global installations last year exceeded 27,000 MW, 36% more than in 2007, mainly due to massive growth in Europe, North America and Asia.
Wind energy capacity increased by 28.8% last year, reaching a total more than 120.8 GW at the end of 2008 installed world-wide.
The global market for turbine installations during 2007 had an estimated value of was worth about 36.5bn EUR or AUD$ 74 billion.
Nearly a third of all new capacity in 2008 was installed in Asia, with China leading the way by doubling its installed capacity through the addition of approximately 6.3 GW, reaching a total of 12.2 GW.
Li Junfeng, Secretary General of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association (CREIA), stated that during 2009 installed capacity is expected to nearly double again, making up at least a third of the world’s total new installed capacity for the year. The GWEC believes that at current rates, China would have met its 2020 target of 30 GW a decade ahead of time
Almost 8.9.GW worth of new wind turbines were brought online in Europe during 2008, bringing total wind power generation capacity close to 66 GW. This makes wind power the most popular power source for new generation capacity.
While favourable winds seem to be forecast for the industry during 2009, the global economic crisis does threaten to cast shadows and becalm the industry to a degree as does a lack of political will. According to Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of GWEC, the wind industry is well on the way to meeting a goal it set of saving 1.5 billion tons of CO2 per year by 2020, but a strong, global signal from governments that they are serious about moving away from fossil fuels is still needed.
