by Rebecca Walker — February 9, 2009—The Global Wind Energy Council, an industry group, has totaled the past year’s growth in generating capacity, and found that US wind power had its highest annual growth ever, and China doubled its installed capacity.
Many renewable energy technologies, most notably photovoltaic, are struggling to reach what’s called “grid parity,” where the cost of the power they generate matches that of fossil fuel generation. But maturing turbine technology and economies of scale have made the economics of wind power quite competitive, says the Council.Those economics can clearly be seen in the latest figures on the growth of the wind industry, which cover 2008. Among the milestones: wind was the largest component of Europe’s growth in electric generating capacity, the US became the world’s top wind energy producer, and China doubled its installed capacity in just a yearfor the fourth year running.
In total, the global installed capacity for wind energy went up nearly 30 percent last year, reaching 121GW. The 27GW installed represent an increase in total installations of 36 percent compared to the figures from 2007. The Global Wind Energy Council estimates that the market for new facilities alone is nearly $50 billion dollars.
For more information, see the Global Wind Energy Council Web site.
