Wind power installations accounted for 39% of new installations in 2009, the second year running that more wind power was installed than any other generating technology;
Renewable power installations accounted for 61% of new installations in 2009, the second year running that renewables accounted for the majority of new power installations;
The EU power sector continues its move away from coal, fuel oil and nuclear, each technology continuing to decommission more than it installs;
The EU’s total installed power capacity increased 20,150 MW, to 820,606 MW with wind power increasing its share of installed capacity to 74,767 MW (9.1%).
Annual installations of wind power have increased steadily over the last 15 years from 472 MW in 1994 to 10,163 MW in 2009, an annual average market growth of 23%.
A total of 74,767 MW is now installed in the European Union with Germany remaining the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain, Italy, France, and the UK.
During 2009 10,526 MW of wind power was installed across Europe, 10,163 MW of that being in the European Union countries. This represents a market growth in the EU of 23% compared to 2008 installations.
Of the 10,163 MW installed in the European Union, 9581 MW was installed onshore, and 582 MW offshore. In 2009 the onshore wind power market grew 21% compared to the previous year, and the offshore wind power market grew 56% compared to the previous year.
Investment in EU wind farms in 2009 was €13 billion. The onshore wind power sector attracted €11.5 billion during 2009, the offshore wind power sector accounted for approximately €1.5 billion.
In terms of annual installations Spain was the largest market in 2009, installing 2,459 MW, compared to Germany’s 1,917 MW. Italy, France and the United Kingdom battled for third, fourth and fifth place respectively, with Italy installing 1114 MW, and France 1088 MW and the UK 1077 MW.
Europe’s 2009 installations are characterised by a continuing strong development in the mature markets of Spain and Germany, together with countries such as Italy, France, and the United Kingdom. Portugal (673), Sweden (512), Denmark (334), and Ireland (233) also performed strongly.
2009 power capacity installations
In 2009, for the second year running, in the EU more wind power was installed than any other electricity generating technology. 25,963 MW of new capacity was installed in total, of which 10,163 MW (39%) was wind and 6,630 MW was gas (26%).
Solar PV – came in third at 4,200 MW (16%). In addition 2,406 MW (9%) of new coal was installed, 581 MW (2.2%) of biomass, 573 MW (2.2%) of fuel oil, 442 MW (1.7%) of waste, 439 MW (1.7%) of nuclear, 338 MW (1.3%) of large hydro, 120 MW2 (0.46%) of concentrated solar power, 55 MW (0.2%) of small hydro, 12 MW (0.04%) of other gas, 3.9 MW (0.01%) of geothermal, and 405 kW of ocean power.
During 2009 the nuclear and coal power sectors decommissioned more MW than they installed: nuclear power sector decommissioned 1,393 MW, and the coal power sector decommissioned 3,200 MW, the continuation of an ongoing trend.
2009 was the second year running where more wind energy was installed than any other generating technology, and the second year running that renewables accounted for more than 50% of new installations, cementing a rising trend initiated over a decade ago.
In total, renewable energy accounted for 61% (15,904 MW) of all new generating capacity installed in the EU during 2009.
Since 2008, each year renewable electricity generating technologies have accounted for more than 50% of new power installations – mostly wind power, but also solar PV, hydro power, and biomass. This trend has increased from just 14% of new installations in 1995, to 61% in 2009.
2009’s installations continue the trend in changes in EU net installed capacity for the various electricity generating technologies from 2000 to 2009. The net growth of natural gas (81 GW) and wind power (65.1 GW) came about at the expense of fuel oil (down 12.9 GW), coal (down 12 GW) and nuclear power (down 7.2 GW).
Annual installations of wind power in the EU have increased steadily over the last 15 years from 472 MW in 1994 to 10,163 MW in 2009, an annual average market growth of 23%.
In 2009 Spain was the EU country with the largest annual market in terms of MW installations, followed by Germany, Italy, France, and the UK.
A total of 74,767 MW is now installed in the European Union. Germany remains the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain, Italy, France, and the UK.
As well as EWEA releasing European statistics, global figures were issued by the Global Wind Energy Council. “Globally, close to 35 GW of new wind capacity was installed in 2009, bringing the total installations up to almost 158 GW – this is a 31% percent increase from 2008. In addition to the developments in Europe, the growth was mainly driven by China and the US” said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council.
Wind Power – Worldwide Installed Capacity Start 2010
Country -MW
1. United States- 35,159
2. Germany- 25,777
3. China- 25,104
4. Spain- 19,149
5. India -10,926
6. Italy -4,850
7. France -4,492
8. United Kingdom- 4,051
9. Portugal- 3,535
10. Denmark- 3,465
11. Canada- 3,319
12. Netherlands- 2,229
13. Japan-2,056
14. Australia-1,712
15. Sweden-1,560
16. Ireland- 1,260
17. Greece- 1,087
18. Austria- 995
19. Turkey- 801
20. Poland- 725
21. Brazil- 606
22. Belgium- 563
23. New Zealand- 497
24. Taiwan- 436
25. Norway- 431
26. Egypt- 430
27. S. Korea-348
28. Morocco- 253
29. Mexico- 202
30. Hungary- 201
31. Czech Republic- 192
32. Bulgaria-177
33. Chile- 168
34. Finland-146
35. Estonia-142
36. Costa Rica- 123
37. Ukraine- 94
38. Lithuania-91
39. Iran-91
40. Tunisia-54
41-Nicaragua-40
42. Luxembourg-35
43. Caribbean- 35
44. Philippines-33
45. Argentina-31
46. Latvia-28
47. Croatia- 28
48. Jamaica-23
49. Colombia- 20
50. Uruguay- 20
51. Switzerland- 18
52. Romania- 14
53. Cape Verde-12
54. Pacific Islands- 12
55. Reunion (France)- 10
56. Russia- 9
57. South Africa- 8
58. Israel- 8
59. Cuba-7
60. Kenya-5
61. Faroe Islands-4
62. Slovakia- 3
63. Sri Lanka- 3
64. Jordan- 2
65. Ecuador- 2
66. Peru- 1
67. Bangladesh- 1
68. Falklands Islands-1
Wind Energy in the World: 157.900 MW in 2010
www.ewea.org/fileadmin/ewea_documents/documents/statistics/general_stats_2009.pdf
