The EU wind power sector installed 11.6 gigawatts (GW) of capacity in 2012, bringing the total wind power capacity to 105.6 GW, according to the 2012 annual statistics launched today by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).
2012 was a record year for offshore installations, with 1,166 MW of new capacity grid connected. Offshore wind power installations represent 10% of the annual EU wind energy market, up from 9% in 2011.
Wind power accounted for 26% of new installations in 2012, the second biggest share after solar photovoltaic (38%) and before gas (24%).
The net growth since 2000 of gas power (121 GW), wind (96.3 GW) and solar PV (69 GW) was at the expense of fuel oil (down 17.4 GW), nuclear (down 14.7 GW) and coal (down 12.7 GW).
The other renewable technologies (hydro, biomass, waste, CSP, geothermal and ocean energies) have also been increasing their installed capacity over the past decade, albeit more slowly than wind and solar PV.
Solar PV installed 16 GW (38% of total capacity), followed by wind energy with 11.6 GW (26%), and gas with 10.5 GW (24%).
The EU’s power sector continues to move away from fuel oil, coal and nuclear while increasing its total installed generating capacity with gas, wind, solar PV and other renewables.
No other technologies compare to wind energy, PV and gas in terms of new installations. Coal installed 3 GW (7% of total installations), biomass 1.3 GW (3%), CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) 833 MW (2%), hydro 424 MW (1%), waste 50 MW, Nuclear 22 MW, fuel oil 7 MW, ocean technologies 6 MW and geothermal energy 5 MW.
The 11.6 GW installed in 2012 is higher than the 9.4 GW installed in 2011.
“The 2012 figures reflect orders made before the wave of political uncertainty that has swept across Europe since 2011 , which is having a hugely negative impact on the wind energy sector”, commented Christian Kjaer, CEO of EWEA. “We expect this instability to be far more apparent in 2013 and 2014 installation levels.”
Wind energy represented 26% of all new EU power capacity installed last year, and investments of between EUR 12.8 billion and EUR 17.2 billion. It is now meeting 7% of Europe’s electricity demand – up from 6.3% at end 2011.
Overall, the EU is almost 2 GW (1.7%) under its National Renewable Energy Action Plan forecasts. Eighteen Member States are falling behind, including Slovakia, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, France and Portugal.
Renewable energy represented 69% of all new power capacity in 2012, while in a continuing trend fuel oil, coal and nuclear capacity saw negative growth due to decommissioning.
Last year, wind energy installations were led by Germany (2.4 GW, 21% of all new wind power capacity), the UK (1.9 GW, 16%), Italy (1.3 GW, 11%), Romania (0.9 GW, 8%) and Poland (0.9 GW, 8%). In terms of total installed capacity, Germany is also the leader with 31.3 GW (30%), followed by Spain (22.8 GW, 22%), the UK (8.4 GW, 8%), Italy (8.1 GW, 8%) and France (7.2 GW, 7%).
The spread of wind energy across Europe is shown by the fact that Denmark, Germany and Spain represented 33% of annual wind power installations in the EU in 2012, down from 85% in 2000.
2012 annual installations
• 11,566 MW of wind power capacity (worth between €12.8bn and €17.2bn) was installed in the EU during 2012.
• The National Renewable Energy Action Plans forecast a net increase in 2012 of 11,360 MW, two MW more than the actual net annual increase of 11,358 MW.
• EU wind power installations for 2012 do not show the significantly negative impact of market, regulatory and political uncertainty sweeping across Europe since the beginning of 2011. The wind turbines installed during 2012 were generally permitted, financed and ordered prior to the crisis feeding through to a destabilisation of legislative frameworks for wind energy. The stress being felt in many markets across Europe throughout the wind industry’s value chain should become apparent in a reduced level of installations in 2013, possibly continuing well into 2014.
• Wind power accounted for 26% of total 2012 power capacity installations.
• Renewable power installations accounted for 69% of new installations during 2012: 31 GW of a total 44.6 GW of new power capacity, down 8% on 2011.
Trends and cumulative installations
•The EU’s total installed power capacity increased by 28.8 GW net to 931.6 GW, with wind power increasing by 11.4 GW and reaching a share of total installed generation capacity of 11.3%, up from 10.4% the previous year.
• The 105.7 GW of installed wind power capacity is 1.9 GW (1.7%) below the installed capacity outlined in the 27 National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) of 107.6 GW. Onshore there are 100.7 GW of installed capacity instead of 101.7 GW foreseen by the NREAPs (-1%). Offshore there are 4,993 MW of installed capacity instead of 5,829 foreseen by the NREAPs (-14%).
• Since 2000, 27.6% of new capacity installed has been wind power, 51.2% renewables and 91.2% renewables and gas combined.
• The EU power sector continues its move away from fuel oil, coal and nuclear, with each technology continuing to decommission more than it installs.
Wind power installations
• Annual installations of wind power have increased steadily over the last 12 years, from 3.2 GW 2000 to 11.6 GW in 2012, a compound annual growth rate of over 11%.
• A total of 106 GW is now installed in the European Union, an increase in installed cumulative capacity of 12% compared to the previous year.
• Germany remains the EU country with the largest installed capacity followed by Spain, the UK and Italy.
15 Member States have more than 1 GW of installed capacity, including two newer Member States, Poland and Romania.
• There was generalised growth in wind energy installations across Europe, although it is expected that a number of large markets, such as Italy and Spain, and certain previously fast growing emerging markets, such as Bulgaria, may slow down significantly over the coming years.
• Offshore saw a record growth in 2012, and the trend is expected to continue in 2013 and 2014.
• The wind power capacity installed by the end of 2012 would, in a normal wind year, produce 230 TWh of electricity, enough to cover 7% of the EU’s electricity consumption – up from 6.3% the year before.
Wind power targets
• Overall the EU is lagging by almost 2 GW (-1.7%) behind its 27 National Renewable energy Action Plan forecasts.
• Eighteen Member States are falling behind on their wind power capacity trajectories, most notably Slovakia, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, France and Portugal.
• Nine Member States are above their trajectory.
• Compared to EWEA’s 2009 forecast, onshore installations are 2,395 MW above expectations (+2.3%).
Offshore installations are below EWEA’s expectations by 307 MW (-6%).
During 2012, 12,416 MW of wind power was installed across Europe, of which 11,566 MW was in the European Union.
Of the 11,566 MW installed in the EU, 10,399 MW was onshore and 1,166 MW offshore. Investment in EU wind farms was between €12.8bn and €17.2bn.
Onshore wind farms attracted €9.4bn to €12.5bn, while offshore wind farms accounted for €3.4bn to €4.7bn.
In terms of annual installations, Germany was the largest market in 2012, installing 2,440 MW of new capacity, 80 MW of which (3.3%) offshore. The UK came in second with 1,897 MW, 854 MW of which (45%) offshore, followed by Italy with 1,273 MW, Spain (1,122 MW), Romania (923 MW), Poland (880 MW), Sweden (845 MW) and France (404 MW).
Among the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Romania and Poland both had record years
– both installing around 8% of the EU’s total annual capacity. Both markets are now consistently in the top ten in the EU for annual installations.
It is also important to note the amount of installations in the UK, Italy and Sweden. These three markets represent respectively 16%, 11% and 7% of total EU installations in 2012.
Offshore accounted for 10% of total EU wind power installations in 2012, one percentage point more than in 2011.
Wind power accounted for 26% of new installations in 2012, the second biggest share after solar PV (38%) and before gas (24%).
Solar PV installed 16 GW (38% of total capacity), followed by wind with 11.6 GW (26%), and gas with 10.5 GW (24%). No other technologies compare to wind, PV and gas in terms of new installations. Coal installed 3 GW (7% of total installations), biomass 1.3 GW (3%), CSP 833 MW (2%), hydro 424 MW (1%), waste 50 MW, Nuclear 22 MW, fuel oil 7 MW, ocean technologies 6 MW (1) and geothermal 5 MW.
Please find the full statistics here: Wind In Power – Annual Statistics 2012
