Wind Blows Other European Power Away in 2015

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Almost half of all new electricity capacity added in Europe last year came from windfarms, according to the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

The EWEA announced that 2015 was a landmark year for wind power, which dominated all other forms of power in terms of investment. Across the 28 European Union (EU) member states, wind accounted for 44% of all new power installations, amounting to a total of 12.8 gigawatts (GW). This was split into 9,766 megawatts (MW) of onshore capacity and 3,034 MW of offshore capacity. New installations in 2015 were up 6.3% from 2014 and brought Europe's total wind capacity to 142 GW, supplying 11.4% of its electricity demand.

Giles Dickson, chief executive officer of the EWEA, said: "These numbers show that wind is the driving force behind the EU's energy transition. Wind energy is a mature industry. It makes economic sense and is contributing significantly to Europe's energy security and competitiveness goals."

Total investment in new onshore and offshore windfarms topped 26.4 billion euros ($29.6 billion), a 40% increase over 2014. Germany led the way in 2015 with almost half of all new wind installations, followed by Poland with 1.3-GW of new capacity and France with 1-GW.

"We've seen strong expansion in Germany in 2015 and a strong year for offshore wind," Dickson explained. "But growth is uneven geographically. We're not doing as well in countries where the policy and regulation is unclear and/or ineffective-- investors and developers go elsewhere. Policy is key, especially when we look at the longer term. As of now only 6 out of the 28 EU states have clear targets and policies in place for renewables post-2020. We see more ambition in emerging economies--which puts a question mark by the EU's goal to be No. 1 in renewables. The Commission's proposal for a new Renewable Energy Directive, due in December, is a key opportunity to drive greater ambition from member states in the absence of binding national targets."

The U.K. has been the leading market for wind power in Europe in recent years but has seen its dominance slipping. The country will benefit in the coming years from a number of large offshore projects that are under construction and others that are planned. Earlier this week, Industrial Info reported that Denmark's DONG Energy A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) has announced a final investment decision to build the world's largest planned offshore off the coast of Yorkshire, England. The Hornsea Project One windfarm will be 120 kilometers (km) off the coast of Yorkshire. It will have a generating capacity of 1.2-gigawatts (GW), enough to power more than one million homes. For additional information, see February 8, 2016, article - DONG Commits to $6 Billion Hornsea Offshore Wind Project in U.K..

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