More Wind Power Capacity Installed
More new wind power capacity was installed in the EU in 2009 than any other electricity-generating technology, statistics published today by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reveal. Of all new capacity installed in 2009, 39% was wind power, followed by gas (26%) and solar photovoltaics (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.
Investment in new European wind farms in 2009 reached EUR13 billion, including EUR1.5 billion offshore. 10,163MW of wind power capacity was installed across the European Union - a 23% increase compared to 2008 installations - made up of 9,581MW onshore (up 21% from last year) and 582MW offshore (up 56% from last year).
Last year is the second year running that more wind power capacity has been installed than any other electricity-generating technology, and wind's share of newly installed capacity increased from 35% in 2008 to 39% in 2009. It is also the second year running that renewable energies have accounted for the majority of new investments.
The countries with the biggest share of new capacity installed in 2009 were Spain (24% - 2459MW), followed by Germany (19% - 1917MW), Italy (11% - 1114MW), France (11% - 1088MW) and the UK (10% - 1077MW).
Wind power's total capacity in the European Union has now reached 74,767MW, up from 64,719MW by the end of 2008 with Germany remaining the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by Spain, Italy, France and the UK.
The wind capacity installed by the end of 2009 will in a normal year produce 163TWh of electricity, meeting 4.8% of total EU power demand.
