World Wind Energy Report Forecasts 25% Market Growth in 2009

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The recently published World Wind Energy Report 2009 indicates that the global wind power sector will witness a 25% market growth this year in comparison to 2008. The report, which was released by the World Wind Energy Association (Bonn, Germany) at the 8th World Wind Energy Conference at Jeju Island, South Korea, states that new capacity addition in this sector in the first three months of 2009 was approximately 5,379 megawatts (MW). This is based on data on new capacity addition collected from 11 of the top 15 wind power generating countries, which account for 80% of the global wind energy market.

The report is bullish about the growth of the wind power sector and wind's emerging as a sustainable, profitable, stable and low-maintenance option for power generation. Windfarm installations have progressed, and operations have been started according to schedule despite the economic slowdown. However, funding challenges in some countries and new regulatory guidelines and red-tape issues elsewhere have resulted in deferred or delayed projects. The total global installed wind power generation capacity is expected to reach 152,000 MW by 2009, an increase of 25% more than capacity installed in 2008. The total installed capacity in 2008 was about 121,188 MW. The report also forecasts that by end of this year, new wind power generating capacity worldwide will reach 30,300 MW in comparison to 27,261 MW last year. Industry experts predict that by 2020, the installed capacity of wind energy will be approximately 240,000 MW. Globally, more than $45 billion was spent in 2008 toward new capacity addition.

The two primary wind energy developers will be China and the U.S. Though wind energy is a top renewable energy choice in Asia and Europe generally, the U.S. and China are seen as the frontrunners. The government mandate to subsidize the use of wind power led China to double its wind power generating capacity in 2008. The country installed 6,300 MW of new capacity, bringing the total installed capacity in 2008 to 12,200 MW. In 2009, the country's installed capacity is expected to double again, accounting for almost 33.33% of the newly installed capacity worldwide. The total wind power generating capacity of the U.S. in 2008 was around 25,000 MW, which included 8,300 MW of new wind power generating capacity. The U.S. Department of Energy has set a target of obtaining 20% of the country's energy from wind power sources by 2030. Therefore, the U.S. is targeting 16,000 MW of additional capacity every year until 2030 to meet this goal. The United Kingdom's target of providing 15.4% of the energy demand from renewable sources by 2015 will receive a boost with the proposed 1,000-MW London Array project. When fully operational, the windfarm, located off the coasts of Essex and Kent, is expected to account for 7% of this target.

Interestingly, a report based on a study of the wind power and renewable energy sector conducted by the Energy Watch Group (Berlin, Germany), has revealed that the wind power industry is expected to grow at the rate of 30% annually in the next ten years. The report also states that the power generation capacity is set to double by 2012. The key drivers for the exponential growth of this sector are the low-cost and low-maintenance qualities of wind turbines and equipment, price competitiveness, the free source of primary energy, large resources, easy accessibility to global technology and resource supplies, short and quick innovation cycles, and zero carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

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