Europe
Wind is the fastest growing power technology in Europe
Although Europe was home to only one third of the world’s new installed capacity in 2008, the European market continues its steady growth, and wind power is now the fastest growing power generation technology in the EU. Indeed, 43% of all new energy installations in 2008 were wind power, well ahead of gas (35%) and oil (13%).
Overall, almost 8.9.GW of new wind turbines brought European wind power generation capacity up to nearly 66 GW. There is now clear diversification of the European market, relying less and less on the traditional wind markets of Germany, Spain and Denmark. 2008 saw a much more balanced expansion, with a ‘second wave’ led by Italy, France and the UK. Ten of the EU's 27 member states now have more than 1GW of wind power capacity.
In 2008 the European wind turbine market was worth €11 billion. The entire wind fleet will produce 142 TWh of electricity, or about 4.2% of EU demand in an average wind year. This will save about 100m tons of CO2 each year.
While at the global level, Germany has been surpassed by the US, it continues to be Europe’s leading market, both in terms of new and total installed capacity. Over 1.6 GW of new capacity was installed in 2008, bringing the total up to nearly 24 GW. Wind energy is continuing to play an important role in Germany’s energy mix. In 2008, 40.4 TWh of wind power were generated, representing 7.5% of the country’s net electricity consumption. In economic terms too, wind power has become a serious player in Germany, and the sector now employs close to 100,000 people.
Spain is Europe’s second largest market, and has seen growth in line with previous years (with the exception of 2007, when regulatory change brought about a higher than usual amount of new wind capacity). In 2008, 1.6 GW of new generating equipment was added to the Spanish wind fleet, bringing the total up to 16.7 GW. This development confirms Spain as a steadily growing market, which at this rate is likely to reach the government’s 2010 target of 20 GW of installed wind capacity.
In 2008, wind energy generated more than 31,000 GWh, covering more than 11 % of the country’s electricity demand.
One noteworthy newcomer among the growing European markets in 2008 was Italy, which experienced a significant leap in wind power capacity. Over 1,000 MW of new wind turbines came on line in 2008, bringing total installed capacity up to 3.7 GW.
At the end of 2008, the Italian government passed an important decree that resolves many of the main problems related to the value of green certificates. This measure is designed to avoid speculative fluctuations in the price of green certificates that negatively affected the Italian market in the past.
France is also continuing to see strong growth, after progressing steadily in recent years. In 2000, France had only 30 MW of wind generating capacity, mostly small wind turbines in the French overseas territories. At the end of 2008, the total installed capacity stood at 3.4 GW, representing an annual growth rate of 38%.
Wind power is now France’s fastest growing energy source; in 2008, around 60% of all new power generation capacity in France was wind energy. The biggest potential in the coming years is estimated to be in the north and the north east of the country. Out of 4,000 MW of approved wind power projects, more than 700 MW are in the region Champagne-Ardennes and 500 MW is in Picardy.