Wind energy poised to achive major milestone

Wind energy continues to be the fastest growing source of electricity in the world. 150,000,000 people worldwide now benefit from clean, renewable electricity generating by wind turbines. Some very ambitious goals set for wind in the coming decades in countries like the UK and China promise to keep this technology in the forefront for some time.

This exceptional rate of growth has been a double-edged sword. On the one hand it has spurred some interesting innovations (Clipper Wind is in the process of designing a 7.5 MW turbine and companies like Norway's Flow are preparing to field test floating offshore wind turbines). On the other hand there are concerns about the ability of the industry's supply chain to keep up with orders for new wind energy systems. (GW)

World wind power reaches 100,000 megawatts

by Jonathan G. Dorn
PeopleandPlanet.net
March 4, 2008

Global installed wind power capacity will top 100,000 megawatts this month (March 2008) at current rates of growth. In 2007, wind power capacity increased by a record-breaking 20,000 mgws, bringing the world total to 94,100 MWs - enough to satisfy the residential electricity needs of 150 million people.

Driven by concerns regarding climate change and energy security, one in every three countries now generates a portion of its electricity from wind, with 13 countries each exceeding 1,000 megawatts of installed wind electricity-generating capacity.

Global wind capacity, 1990-2007 (Gigawatts). Source: REN21 Renewables 2007 Global Status Report

In Europe, the 8,660 megawatts of wind power capacity added in 2007 accounted for 40 per cent of all new power installations. This marks the first year in history that wind power additions in Europe exceeded the additions of any other power source, including natural gas.

Europe’s installed capacity currently totals 57,100 megawatts, and its new installations in 2007 accounted for 43 per cent of total global installations. Wind-generated electricity now meets nearly 4 per cent of Europe’s electricity demand, enough to supply electricity to 90 million residents.

Germany leads

Germany is still the frontrunner in total installed wind power capacity, with 22,200 mgws, but in 2007 it lagged behind the United States, Spain, China, and India in terms of new capacity added. Growth in Germany is slowing because of a saturation of suitable onshore sites and a decrease in the feed-in tariff for wind power. Countrywide, Germany generates more than 7 per cent of its electricity from the wind. In the northern states of Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Schleswig-Holstein, wind meets an impressive 30 per cent of electricity needs.

Spain proved to be the shocker in the European market in 2007, installing 3,520 megawatts — the highest number ever in Europe in a single year. Spain now ranks third in total installed wind capacity with 15,100 megawatts. And with wind energy supplying 10 per cent of the country’s electricity, Spain is second only to Denmark in terms of percentage of electricity generated this way.

France also demonstrated impressive gains in 2007, increasing its total installed wind capacity by 57 per cent to 2,450 megawatts. The French government’s goal is to increase installed wind capacity to 25,000 megawatts by 2020.

For the third consecutive year, the United States led the world in new installations, with its 5,240 megawatts accounting for one-quarter of global installations in 2007. Installations in the fourth quarter of 2007 alone exceeded the figure for all of 2006, and the United States is on track to overtake Germany as the leader in installed wind power by the end of 2009.

Wind farms are now found in 34 states and total 16,800 megawatts. The electrical output from these farms is equivalent to that from 16 coal-fired power plants and is enough to power 4.5 million US homes. The recent exceptional growth in the United States is largely due to an extension of the wind production tax credit under the 2005 Energy Policy Act.

After passing California to become the leader in installed US wind power capacity in 2006, Texas maintained its lead in 2007 by expanding its total capacity to 4,360 megawatts. It is now planning the development of 23,000 megawatts of wind power capacity, enough to satisfy over half the residential electricity demand in the state.

Chinese target

India installed 1,730 megawatts of new wind power capacity in 2007. With total installed capacity reaching 8,000 megawatts, India retained its fourth place on the list of top wind power countries. But due to the lack of a national renewable energy law that establishes cohesive goals and provides economic incentives for Indian wind energy projects, China will likely overtake India in total installed wind power capacity in late 2008 or early 2009.

China installed 3,450 megawatts of wind capacity in 2007, a 156-percent increase over 2006. With 6,050 megawatts of total installed capacity at the end of 2007, China has already exceeded its recent 2010 goal of 5,000 megawatts. The more than 40 Chinese turbine manufacturers now operating supply 56 per cent of the Chinese market, up from 41 per cent in 2006.

The Renewable Energy Law (REL), which entered into force on January 1, 2006, is encouraging wind energy growth. The REL was established to help China meet its goal of generating 15 percent of the country’s energy from renewables by 2020. It mandates power producers to increase their ownership of non-hydro renewables to 3 per cent by 2010 and 8 per cent by 2020. While the government target for 2020 is 30,000 megawatts of wind power capacity, the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association projects that with a feed-in tariff and greater investment in offshore wind farms, wind power installations in China by then could exceed four times that target.

Offshore wind capacity accounts for almost 1,170 megawatts worldwide, roughly 1.2 percent of the 94,100 megawatts of installed capacity at the end of 2007; while this is a small share of the total, it is up from less than 0.3 percent in 2000. Denmark maintained its leadership position, with 426 megawatts of installed offshore wind power capacity, followed by the United Kingdom, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland. In 2008, the United Kingdom is expected to overtake Denmark for the top spot and Germany is poised to move into the top five. With more than 1,200 megawatts presently under construction worldwide, primarily in Europe, offshore wind capacity is expected to more than double by the end of 2009.

Every UK home

John Hutton, British Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform (BERR), says he wants to see 33,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2020, enough to meet the electrical needs of every home in Britain.

Helping to achieve this goal will be the 1,000-mgw London Array in the Thames Estuary, scheduled for completion in 2012. Airtricity, an Irish energy development firm, and ABB, a leader in building energy infrastructure, have proposed a 10,000-megawatt wind farm project in the North Sea.

To help offset the high cost of offshore development, some countries such as Germany and Ireland have implemented feed-in tariffs. The Irish tariff guarantees producers a 15-year fixed price of 10p (or 20c) per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated from new offshore wind farms.

The cost of onshore wind power has decreased by more than 80 per cent since the early 1980s to roughly 3p (7c) per kilowatt-hour at favorable wind sites. In some markets, wind is now competitive with conventional power generation. In most markets, however, due to subsidies for conventional energy sources, the growth of wind power still depends on economic incentives. If the full cost of carbon emissions were incorporated into the price of natural gas and coal, onshore wind would become the cheapest electricity source.

With mounting concerns over global climate change and energy security, wind energy is rapidly taking centre stage in the new energy economy. Unlike conventional energy sources, electricity generation from wind does not release greenhouse gases associated with global warming. Wind also offers long-term energy security, since it is inexhaustible, widely distributed, and free.

If the present 27 per cent annual growth rate of installed wind power capacity is maintained, total capacity in 2020 will hit 2 million megawatts. With aggressive economic incentives, it could reach 3 million megawatts by that date —which would be 30 times as much as is available today.

Copyright © 2008 Earth Policy Institute. For more information on wind power from the Institute, click here.