WIND-150,000 MEGAWATTS AND GROWING

Wind Power Soared Past 150,000 Megawatts in 2009
J. Matthew Roney, March 30, 2010 (Earth Policy Institute)

"Even in the face of a worldwide economic downturn, the global wind industry posted another record year in 2009 as cumulative installed wind power capacity grew to 158,000 megawatts. With this 31 percent jump, the global wind fleet is now large enough to satisfy the residential electricity needs of 250 million people. Wind provides electricity in over 70 countries…

"China led the way in 2009 with an astonishing 13,000 megawatts of new wind capacity, the first time any country has built more than 10,000 megawatts in a single year. With 25,000 megawatts overall, China has doubled its total installed wind capacity in each of the last five years, bringing it into third place behind the United States and Germany…Six wind-rich [Chinese] provinces across the country’s northern half—from northwestern Xinjiang to eastern Jiangsu—have been selected to host seven wind mega-complexes of between 10,000 and 37,000 megawatts each…close to 130,000 megawatts of generating capacity…"

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"The United States passed longtime leader Germany in installed capacity in 2008 and then widened its lead in 2009, expanding its wind fleet by nearly 10,000 megawatts to reach a cumulative 35,000 megawatts. Texas remained the leading state in both annual and total wind installations, reaching 9,400 megawatts overall…Spain added the most new wind in [the EU]…But with 26,000 total megawatts installed, Germany still commands Europe’s largest wind capacity…[S]everal rapidly growing markets in the [EU] have great potential. In Italy, France, and the United Kingdom, total installed capacity has at least doubled since 2006…[The EU] actually saw net reductions in coal and nuclear generating capacity in 2009…[and] wind accounted for close to 40 percent of all newly installed capacity, making it the region’s number one new power source for the second straight year.

"…[O]ther countries are also [building]…India, for example, installed 1,300 megawatts in 2009…to make it the fifth country to surpass 10,000 megawatts…Canada installed 950 megawatts…in 2009…Latin America and Africa, both rich in wind…[are] accelerating [development]…With 600 megawatts installed, Brazil now claims half [Latin America’s] wind development. Mexico’s wind capacity grew…to 200 megawatts, while Chile climbed…to nearly 170 megawatts…By the end of 2009, just 760 megawatts were installed on the African continent, 90 percent of which was in Egypt and Morocco. But…[there is building] in several sub-Saharan countries, including Ethiopia, South Africa, and Kenya…"

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"Most of the world’s wind turbines are found on land, but offshore wind capacity is poised to grow rapidly from its current 2,100 megawatts…Nearly 600 megawatts were brought online in 2009, including the world’s largest offshore project: Denmark’s 209-megawatt Horns Rev 2 wind farm in the North Sea. The United Kingdom leads the offshore category, with 40 percent of global capacity…

"Having increased ninefold in total capacity since the start of the twenty-first century, wind power is quickly solidifying its position as an important part of the global energy mix..In a 2009 study of world wind resources, Harvard University scientists concluded that the top 10 carbon dioxide-emitting countries could satisfy all of their electricity needs using wind alone…"