18,4 GW of new wind farm installations in first half of 2011, 43,9 GW of wind energy expected for the full year. In June 2011, worldwide wind turbines capacity reached 215 GW. The world market for wind energy saw a sound revival in the first half of 2011 and re-gained momentum after a weak year in 2010: The worldwide wind capacity reached 215,000 MW by the end of June 2011, out of which 18,405 MW were added in the first six months of 2011. This increase represents 15 % more than in the first half of 2010, when only 16,000 MW were added.

The global wind farm capacity grew by 9,3 % within six months and by 22,9 % on an annual basis (mid-2011 compared with mid-2010). In comparison, the annual growth rate in 2010 was 23,6 %. 

Top 10 Wind Turbines Markets: China, USA, Germany, Spain, and India continue to lead

Still the five leading countries stand for the lion share of the world capacity of wind turbines: China, USA, Germany, Spain and India, together representing a total share of 74 % of the global wind capacity.

Again in 2011, China continues to dominate the world wind market, adding 8 GW in only 6 months, the highest number ever within the first half year. Within those 6 months, China accounted for 43 % of the world market for new wind turbines, compared with 50 % in the full year of 2010. By June 2011, China had an overall installed capacity of around 52 GW. 

Most of the European markets showed stronger growth in 2011 than in the previous year: The top markets in Europe continue to be Germany with a new capacity of 766 MW and reaching a total of 27,981 MW, Spain (484 MW, 21,150 MW in total), Italy (460 MW, 6,200 MW total), France (400 MW, 6,060 MW total), the United Kingdom (504 MW, 5,707 MW) and Portugal (260 MW, 3,960 MW). Only France and Denmark showed a decrease in their new installed capacity compared to the first half of 2010 and Denmark even dropped out of the list of the top 10 markets, while Portugal became the new number 10.

The US market added 2,252 MW between January and June 2011, about 90 % more than in the same, but very weak period of 2010. However, it is questionable whether the US market can regain the strength it had in 2009 when a total capacity of almost 10 GW was installed within one year.

Relatively strong growth can be observed in Canada which installed 603 MW during the first half of 2011, with Ontario as the strongest province due to the ground-breaking Green Energy Act.

New wind markets are arising

A number of new markets are arising around the world: During the first half of 2011, three countries were added to the list of countries that are using wind energy, increasing the number from 83 to 86: Venezuela, Honduras, and Ethiopia. Also the Dominican Republic installed its first major wind farm and increased its capacity from 0,2 MW to 60,2 MW. 

Within Europe, again the emerging markets in Eastern Europe showed the highest growth from January to June 2011, e.g. Romania with 10 % growth (59 MW added), Poland with 22 % (245 MW added), Croatia with 28 % (20 MW added) and Estonia with 32 % (48 MW added).

A number of countries introduced new and ambitious legislation for wind power, including Ecuador, Malaysia and Uganda, which adopted systems of feed-in tariffs for the development of renewable energy. 

Prospects for end of the year 2011: 240 GW of wind cover almost 3 % of the worldwide electricity demand

In the second half of 2011, an additional capacity of 25,500 MW is expected to be erected worldwide, which would bring new annual installations to 43’900 MW, compared with 37,642 MW in the year 2010. The total installed wind capacity is projected to reach 240,500 MW by the end of this year. This capacity can cover almost 3 % of the electricity demand all over the world.

Stefan Gsänger, WWEA Secretary General: “Although the deployment of the wind power worldwide is again speeding up, we still see relatively moderate growth rates, compared with previous years. On the one hand, it is very encouraging that new countries are coming up. On the other hand, we need more support on the national as well as on the international level. We hope that especially the UN climate change conference in Durban will lead to better frameworks for wind energy mainly in developing countries. Amongst the industrialised countries, we expect that Japan will play an active and positive role in wind power in the foreseeable future and join soon the group of leading wind countries.” 

Source: Reve