World Wind Energy Report 2010 launched – Worldwide wind power capacity reaches 197 GW

The highlights of the World Wind Energy Report 2010:

· Worldwide wind farm capacity reached 196,630 Megawatt, out of which 37,642 Megawatt were added in 2010, slightly less than in 2009.

· Wind power showed a growth rate of 23,6 %, the lowest growth since 2004 and the second lowest growth of the past decade.

· All wind turbines installed by the end of 2010 worldwide can generate 430 Terawatthours per annum, more than the total electricity demand of the United Kingdom, the sixth largest economy of the world, and equalling 2,5 % of the global electricity consumption.

· The wind energy sector in 2010 had a turnover of 40 billion Euro and employed 670’000 persons worldwide.

· China became number one in total installed wind farm capacity and the center of the international wind power industry, and added 18,928 Megawatt within one year, accounting for more than 50 % of the world market for new wind turbines.

· Major decrease in new wind farm installations can be observed in North America and the USA lost its number one position in total capacity to China.

· Many Western European countries are showing stagnation, whereas there is strong growth in a number of Eastern European countries.

· Germany keeps its number one position in Europe with 27,215 Megawatt, followed by Spain with 20,676 Megawatt.

· The highest shares of wind power can be found in three European countries: Denmark (21 %), Portugal (18 %) and Spain 16 %).

· Asia accounted for the largest share of new wind farm installations (54,6 %), followed by Europe (27,0 %) and North America (16,7 %).

· Latin America (1,2 %) and Africa (0,4 %) still played only a marginal role in new wind farm installations.

· Africa: North Africa represents still lion share of installed capacity, wind energy plays hardly a role yet in Subsahara Africa.

· Nuclear disaster in Japan and oil spill in Gulf of Mexico will have long-term impact on the prospects of wind energy. Governments need to urgently reinforce their wind energy policies.

· WWEA sees a global capacity of 600,000 Megawatt as possible by the year 2015 and more than 1,500,000 Megawatt by the year 2020.

The full pdf version of the report can be downloaded here.

The World Wind Energy Association is the global voice for wind energy, comprising members in 100 countries on all continents. WWEA works for a world energy system fully based on renewable energy, with wind energy as one cornerstone.

At China (Shanghai) International Wind Energy Exhibition and Conference CWEE2011 in Shanghai (8-10 April 2011), 350 exhibitors from all sectors of the wind industry are showing their products, on a total area of 26’000 sqm. More than 20’000 visitors are expected to attend the CWEE2011. CWEE2011 is hosted by the Chinese Wind Energy Equipment Association, in cooperation with WWEA.

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