Global expansion of wind energy continues I

The global wind energy industry installed 7,976 megawatts (MW) in 2004, an increase in total installed generating capacity of 20%, according to figures released today by the Global Wind Energy Council - GWEC (1). Global wind energy capacity has grown to 47,317MW. The countries with the highest total installed wind energy capacity are Germany (16,629 MW), Spain (8,263 MW), the United States (6,740 MW), Denmark (3,117 MW) and India (3,000 MW). The top five countries account for over 67% of 2004 installation and nearly 80% of total wind energy installation worldwide. A number of countries, including Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, and the UK, are above or near the 1,000-MW mark.

Europe continued to dominate the global market in 2004, accounting for 72.4% of new installations (5,774 MW). Asia had a 15.9% installation share (1,269 MW), followed by North America (6.4%; 512 MW) and the Pacific Region (4.1%; 325 MW). Latin America + the Caribbean (49 MW) and Africa (47 MW) had a 0.6% market share respectively. "Europe is the global leader in wind energy, but we are witnessing the globalisation of the wind energy markets. In Europe, the market has experienced average annual growth rates of 22% over the past six years; however, the further rapid progress that the industry is capable of delivering is constrained by barriers such as grid access and administrative hurdles", said EWEA President Arthouros Zervos. "Renewed political initiatives by the G8 could boost wind energy; the industry is well positioned and ready for a more rapid roll out given the right political signals".

Growth in the U.S. market was predictably slow because of the long delay in extending the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy, which had expired in December 2003 and was extended in October 2004. Proposed projects are now back on the fast track and AWEA expects that over 2,000 MW will be installed nationwide during 2005. Uncertainty continues to loom over the U.S. market, however, since the PTC will expire again in December 2005 unless Congress moves quickly to extend the incentive. The US wind energy industry is calling for a long-term extension so that companies can plan for steadier, stronger growth over the coming years.

"Wind energy technology has bolted out of the starting gate in the U.S. and is delivering clean, safe, inexhaustible energy to customers nationwide, but its deployment remains hobbled by the intermittency and uncertainty of the federal incentive for wind and other renewable energy sources," said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. "For wind energy to contribute a substantially larger share to the nation's electricity, companies need a stable planning horizon, comparable at least to that available for conventional technologies."