Wind power tops new EU electricity

Wind power represented the largest share of new electricity generating technology installed in the European Union in 2009.

The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) says 39% of all new capacity installed in 2009 was wind power, followed by gas (26%) and solar photovoltaics (PV) (16%).

Europe decommissioned more coal and nuclear capacity than it installed in 2009. Taken together, renewable energy technologies account for 61% of new power generating capacity in 2009.

Wind farm investment

Investment in new European wind farms in 2009 reached €13 billion, including €1.5bn offshore.

10,163 MW of wind power capacity was installed across the EU – up 23% from 2008. Of this, 9581 MW was onshore

wind (up 21% from last year) and 582 MW offshore (up 56% from last year).

It is the second year running that more wind power capacity has been installed than any other electricity-generating technology in the EU. It is also the second year running that renewable energy have accounted for the majority of new investments.

Wind power’s total capacity in the European Union has now reached 74,767 MW, up from 64,719 MW by the end of 2008 with Germany remaining the EU country with the largest installed wind power capacity, followed by Spain, Italy, France and the UK. The wind capacity installed by the end of 2009 will in a normal year produce 163 TWh of electricity, meeting 4.8% of total EU power demand, the EWEA says.

For the full report, download the pdf on the right hand side of this page.

This article is featured in: Policy, investment and markets • Wind power