GLOBAL WIND ENERGY: 2012

New global wind installations touched 38,336 mw in 2012 slowing down from 40,654 mw in 2011, according to statistics recently released by Global Wind Energy Council. The total global wind installations reached 282,482 mw (roughly 282 GW) as of end-2012, growing 19 per cent from its comparable level of 2011.

It was a record year for the US with new installations touching as much as 13,124 mw. This was nearly double the 6,810 mw installed in 2011. The US saw last-minute rush to install wind turbines before the expiration of the Production Tax Credit due on December 31, 2012. Out of the total 13.1 GW installed in 2012 in US, as much as 8 GW came in the last quarter alone. It is very interesting to note that the tax credit scheme has been extended for one more year, which means that 2013 could also be an equally enthusiastic year for wind installations.

China took it easy with 13,200 mw of new installations in 2012—down from 17,631 mw in 2011 and 17,631 mw in 2010. China's aggression seen in the years from 2006 to 2009 is seen petering off and the Asian nation is seen stabilizing at around 15 GW of new installations per year. Even in this subdued phase, China has been contributing around 40 per cent of the new installations worldwide.

India too had a quiet year with 2,336 mw of new installations in 2012 as against a record of 3,019 mw in 2011. The withdrawal of accelerated depreciation and generation-based incentives was seen a dampener to wind energy growth. Given that the Union Budget 2013 has restored the generation based incentives, there is likely to be a revival in the Indian wind energy market. Even China's slowdown in wind energy is attributed to some uncertainties over the wind power policy framework.

GWEC observes that while Asia continued to lead the world wind market in 2012, North America came a close second and Europe not far behind.

Regarding other countries, Canada had a solid year, and Mexico more than doubled its installed capacity with 801 mw of new installations making a total 1370 mw. Mexico joined the list of countries, now numbering 24, to have in excess of 1 GW wind power installations.

European markets, led by Germany and UK, with contributions from 'emerging markets' in Sweden, Romania, Italy and Poland, shared 12.4 GW of new installations in 2012, which also marked a new record. Europe also continued to lead offshore markets, with a 1,166 mw installed, more than 90 per cent of total offshore installations of 1,293 mw in 2012.

Brazil led the Latin America market with 1,077 mw of new installations, to bring its total installed capacity to just over 2,500 mw. In the Pacific region, Australia accounted for all of the new installations in the Pacific region, with 358 mw of new capacity in 2012 for a cumulative total of 2,584 mw.

With an important 52-mw project commissioned in Ethiopia, GWEC expects Africa to be a substantial new market, where clean, competitive energy generated with indigenous sources is a priority for economic development.
 

WIND POWER CAPACITY: JAN-DEC
(MW)
	India			USA			China			World
	New	Total	Rank	New	Total	Rank	New	Total	Rank	New	Total
2006	1,840	6,270	4	2,454	11,603	3	1,347	2,604	6	15,197	74,223
2007	1,575	7,845	4	5,244	16,818	2	3,304	5,906	5	19,865	93,864
2008	1,800	9,645	5	8,358	25,170	1	6,300	12,210	4	27,051	120,798
2009	1,271	10,926	5	9,996	35,064	1	13,803	25,805	2	38,343	158,505
2010	2,139	13,065	5	5,115	40,180	2	18,928	44,733	1	38,265	197,039
2011	3,019	16,084	5	6,810	46,919	2	17,631	62,364	1	40,654	237,669
2012	2,336	18,421	5	13,124	60,007	2	13,200	75,564	1	38,326	282,482
Note: “New” = Additions during 1 January to 31 December; “Total” = Cumulative installed capacity as of 31 December; Rank is based on “Total”
Source: Global Wind Energy Council

Printer-Friendly Version E-mail This Article