Wind capacity
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Wind capacity
Maintaining rapid growth
Wind power generating capacity grew by 20.5% in 2011, with capacity increasing by a record 40.8 GW to reach 239 GW by the end of 2011. The trend rate of capacity growth over the past 10 years is just over 25% pa, which implies a doubling of capacity every three years. Wind power now generates 437 TWh of electricity, around 2% of total electricity generation.
China remains the largest market for wind power, both in terms of capacity added (17.6 GW) and in terms of cumulative installed capacity (62.4 GW). The second largest market, the US, added 6.8 GW in 2011 to reach 47.1 GW installed capacity.
Led by Germany and Spain, Europe remains the largest regional market for wind power in terms of total installed capacity (96.8 GW, or 44% of the world total). The fastest growing region over the past five years has been Asia-Pacific, led by China and India. Asia-Pacific’s share of installed wind capacity has doubled since 2007, reaching 36% by the end of 2011.
China remains the largest market for wind power, both in terms of capacity added (17.6 GW) and in terms of cumulative installed capacity (62.4 GW). The second largest market, the US, added 6.8 GW in 2011 to reach 47.1 GW installed capacity.
Led by Germany and Spain, Europe remains the largest regional market for wind power in terms of total installed capacity (96.8 GW, or 44% of the world total). The fastest growing region over the past five years has been Asia-Pacific, led by China and India. Asia-Pacific’s share of installed wind capacity has doubled since 2007, reaching 36% by the end of 2011.
Installed Wind Generation Capacity
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Wind is becoming an important contributor to European electricity generation. In Denmark wind power provided 28.3% of power generation in 2011. The share of wind power now exceeds 15% in Spain, Portugal and Ireland. In Germany, Europe’s largest wind power producer, wind penetration stands at 7.6%. Wind has a much smaller share in the US – it contributes 2.8% of power generation.
Government support remains the single most important factor behind the fast growth of wind generation. Future growth is also dependent on further technological advances in offshore wind. This segment of the wind market is led by the UK, where offshore wind capacity reached 2.1 GW by the end of 2011.
The growing share of wind power in the electricity mix also presents unique operational challenges to grid operators. Because of the unreliability of wind power (reflected in a low, ~25% utilisation factor), adding more wind generation capacity to the grid increases the need to boost the percentage of overall plant capacity set aside to provide ancillary services. Power generation from wind turbines in Spain and Portugal actually fell in 2011, despite continued growth in capacity, due to lower than average wind speeds.
Government support remains the single most important factor behind the fast growth of wind generation. Future growth is also dependent on further technological advances in offshore wind. This segment of the wind market is led by the UK, where offshore wind capacity reached 2.1 GW by the end of 2011.
The growing share of wind power in the electricity mix also presents unique operational challenges to grid operators. Because of the unreliability of wind power (reflected in a low, ~25% utilisation factor), adding more wind generation capacity to the grid increases the need to boost the percentage of overall plant capacity set aside to provide ancillary services. Power generation from wind turbines in Spain and Portugal actually fell in 2011, despite continued growth in capacity, due to lower than average wind speeds.
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