Currently, 60 percent of total wind energy capacity is in Europe, with 20 percent in North America and 16 percent in Asia. Wind energy is one of the fastest growing forms of electricity generation throughout the world.
The International Energy Agency expects global electricity demand to grow by 1.5 to 2.5 percent per year. Much of this increased demand will be met with wind energy as it is a cost effective and proven solution that is available today.
Growth in wind energy
During 2008 wind energy capacity throughout the world grew by 28.8 percent to 120 800 MW – or over 13 times New Zealand’s total electricity generation capacity. Wind energy was the largest source of new electricity generation in Europe, and provided 42% of new generating capacity in the USA (learn more...).
The Global Wind Energy Council predicts that by 2014 there will be 240,000MW of wind energy capacity throughout the world.
Find out more about global wind capacity - click on the graphs below to enlarge.
Source: Global Wind Energy Council
Significant growth is expected in the North American and Asian regions. In the US, growth in the wind industry is driven by a mixture of state and federal incentives, encouraging the supply of renewable energy, and the competitiveness of wind compared with increasingly expensive gas.
In Asia, the wind energy market has been spurred as much by the sheer growth in demand for more electricity to supply new industries as by wind’s environmental benefits.
Here in New Zealand, wind energy does not receive government subsidies. Nonetheless wind energy capacity will continue to increase in line with international trends. By the end of 2009 capacity will have increased to near 500 megawatts, up from 325.3 megawatts at the end of 2008.