The global wind industry had another record year in 2015, with annual installations topping 63 GW, says the new report from Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
Overall, by the end of 2015, there were about 433 GW of wind power spinning around the globe, a 17 percent increase over the previous year; and wind power supplied more new power generation than any other technology.
China, the largest overall market for wind power since 2009, maintained its leadership position and installations in Asia led global markets again, with Europe in the second spot, and North America closing the gap with Europe, in third place. The majority of wind installations globally were outside the OECD once again and this trend is likely to continue.
Global wind industry is present today in more than 80 countries, of which 28 countries have more than 1 GW installed.
Eight countries had more than 10 GW installed, including China (145,362 MW); the US (74,471 MW); Germany (44,947 MW); India (25,088 MW); Spain (23,025 MW); UK (13,603 MW); Canada (11,205 MW); and France (10,358 MW). In 2016 Brazil joined the 10GW club.
China’s cumulative wind power installations (145 GW) at the end of 2015 are more than all European Union countries combined (141.6 GW
While China, the US, Germany and Brazil set new records in wind installations in 2015, there is also a lot of activity in new markets around the world; Guatemala and Jordan each added their first large commercial wind farms, and South Africa became the first African market to pass the 1 GW milestone, GWEC said.
New markets are emerging across Africa, Asia and Latin America, which will provide the major growth markets for the next decade.
Asia is the world’s largest regional wind market with an overall total installed capacity of 175.8 GW. In terms of annual installations China maintained its leadership position in 2015 by adding 30.8 GW of new wind power capacity to the grid, the highest annual number for any country ever.
India’s wind energy installations totaled 25,088 MW at the end of 2015, keeping the Indian wind power market firmly in the top five rankings globally. Outside of China, Asia will be led by India, but new markets such as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan and Mongolia are developing quickly.
The United States is the single largest market in terms of total installed capacity after China. The US market added 4000 new turbines for a total of 8,598 MW in 2015, and its total installed capacity reached 74,471 MW.
Wind energy accounted for almost 31 percent of all new generating capacity installed in the US over last 5 years. Wind energy provided more than 31 percent of the electricity in Iowa, 25 percent in South Dakota, and 12 percent or more of the generation in a total of nine states.
Canada‘s total installed wind capacity stood at 11.2 GW at the end of 2015 making it the seventh largest market globally. Canada’s new wind energy projects (1,506 MW) in 2015 represent over $3 billion in investment. Mexico installed an impressive 713.6 MW of new capacity to reach a total of 3,073 MW by the end of 2015.
Across Europe there are now 147.7 GW installed, out of which 141.6 GW are in the EU. Wind power installed more than any other form of power generation in 2015, accounting for 44.2 percent of total 2015 power capacity installations.
However, the overall EU installation levels mask significant volatility across Europe; 47 percent of all new EU installations in 2015 took place in Germany and 73 percent occurred in the top four markets, a similar trend to the one seen in 2014. This is unlike previous years when installations were less concentrated and spread across many more healthy European markets.
Germany remains the EU country with the largest installed capacity (44.9 GW), followed by Spain (23 GW), the UK (13.6 GW), France (10 GW) and Italy (9 GW). Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Portugal each have more than 5 GW installed.
Weakened legislative frameworks, on-going economic crises and austerity measures implemented across Europe continue to hinder growth of the wind power industry. The year ahead is likely to be difficult but the broader investment shift away from fossil fuels could boost the European renewables sector, GWEC finds.
Beyond the EU, Turkey is the largest market in Europe with a cumulative installed capacity of 4,694 MW at the end of 2015. Latin America and the Caribbean has a total installed capacity of 12.2 GW. Post the Paris Agreement at COP211, the demand for clean energy bolstered by concerns for energy security and diversity of supply will promote the growth of wind power in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Brazil leads the Latin American market with installations of more than 10 GW and continues to be the most promising onshore market for wind energy in the region out to 2020.
Uruguay will generate more than 30 percent of its power from wind by the end of 2016 and had a total installed capacity of over 845 MW at the end of 2015, but has now surpassed the 1,000 MW mark.
Chile’s total installed capacity now stands at just over 1 GW; Panama added 235 MW in 2015 to reach 270 MW; and Costa Rica added 70 MW of new capacity to reach a total of 268 MW. Honduras saw its total installed capacity reach 176 MW.
Guatemala for the fi rst time added wind power to its energy mix in 2015, with a 50 MW project. Argentina added 8 MW of new capacity in 2015 to bring its total installed capacity up to 279 MW. The Caribbean reached a total installed capacity of 250 MW across various island states. The Pacific region saw its total installed capacity rise to just over 4.8 GW by the end of 2015. Australia, the biggest wind market in the region, brought its total installed wind capacity up to 4,187 MW.
Samoa added 550 kW of new wind power capacity in 2015. This was the first wind project in the Pacific Island nation. The Africa and Middle East region saw 953 MW of new capacity additions in 2015, bringing cumulative capacity for the region up to 3,489 MW. Africa’s wind resource is best around the coasts and in the eastern highlands, but until 2014 when the South African market took off, it was in North and East Africa that wind power has been developed at scale.
At the end of 2015, over 99 percent of the region’s total wind installations were spread across ten countries – South Africa (1,053 MW), Morocco (787 MW), Egypt (810 MW), Tunisia (245 MW), Ethiopia (324 MW), Jordan (119 MW), Iran (91 MW), Cape Verde (24 MW), Kenya (19 MW), Israel (6.25 MW) and Algeria (10 MW). New projects are expected to come online in Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Tanzania and South Africa in 2016, GWEC said.
Source: GWEC