16 Gigawatt of Wind Power added in First Half of 2010, WWEA expects Global Capacity to reach almost 200 Gigawatt in 2010

The world market for wind turbines saw robust growth in the first half of the year 2010, with approximately 16 Gigawatt of new capacity added worldwide. Again China represents the by far largest market and added 7800 MW within only six months, reaching total installations of almost 34 Gigawatt. The USA, still number one in total capacity with 36 Gigawatt, saw a major decrease in new installations and added only 1200 MW, followed by India. The five major European markets showed similar growth: Germany added 660 Megawatt, France and the UK 500 Megawatt, Italy 450 Megawatt and Spain 400 Megawatt.

The total capacity of all wind turbines installed worldwide reached 175 Gigawatt in mid-2010, compared with 159 Gigawatt by the end of 2009. WWEA expects that the market for new turbines will reach a size between 35 and 40 Gigawatt in the year 2010, close to 2009 when 38 Gigawatt were added. With this increase, the global capacity will reach almost 200 Gigawatt by the end of this year. With an expected total increase of 15 GW in the year 2010, China will most likely become number one country in terms of total capacity by the end of 2010, thus surpassing the USA.

Dr. Anil Kane, WWEA President: “The world market for wind turbines saw a slight slow-down in the first half of 2010. However, there is still a robust development in many countries. The Asian markets and especially China with its impressive growth continue to be the main drivers of the world wind energy markets. Companies in the Asian countries are now about to start exporting wind turbines and equipment on a larger scale. Such new manufacturing capacities will further speed up the wind energy deployment worldwide, mainly for new markets in the developing world.”

Stefan Gsänger, WWEA Secretary General: “The wind industry around the world has become a major player on the energy markets. However, the slowdown in some countries is demonstrating that the success of wind power is not yet guaranteed automatically. We urgently need further improvements in national legislation such as more comprehensive feed-in tariffs that also include access to the electricity grids and smooth building permission processes. In order to keep high social acceptance, special political consideration has to be given to models that involve local citizens. Furthermore, in order to bypass financing problems in developing countries, new international policies such as a Global Feed-in Tariff programme should be adopted. We urge the governments to take such groundbreaking decisions during the UN Climate Conference in Cancún in December.”

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Source: wwindea, October 20, 2010