16 Gigawatt of Wind Power Added Worldwide in First Half of 2010

The world market for wind turbines saw robust growth in the first half of the 2010, with approximately 16 Gigawatt of new capacity added worldwide. Again, China represents by far the largest market and added 7800 Megawatt, reaching total installations of almost 34 Gigawatt.

The USA, still number one in total capacity with 36 Gigawatt, saw a major decrease in new installations and added only 1200 Megawatt, followed by India.

The five major European markets showed similar growth: Germany added 660 Megawatt, France and the UK 500 Megawatt, Italy 450 Megawatt and Spain 400 Megawatt.

The total capacity of all wind turbines installed worldwide reached 175 Gigawatt in mid-2010, compared with 159 Gigawatt by the end of 2009. World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) expects that the market for new turbines will reach a size between 35 and 40 Gigawatt in the year 2010, close to 2009 when 38 Gigawatt were added. With this increase, the global capacity will reach almost 200 Gigawatt by the end of this year.

With an expected total increase of 15 GW in the year 2010, China will most likely become number one country in terms of total capacity by the end of 2010, thus surpassing the USA.

Source : World Wind Energy Association