Global wind power capacity stood at almost 487GW at the end of 2016 and is on track to reach 800GW by the end of 2021, according to a report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
The report – ‘Global Wind Report: Annual Market Update’ – predicts 60GW of new annual capacity in 2017, rising to 75GW in 2021.
Some 54GW of new capacity was installed in 2016, across 90 countries.
The report said nine countries now have more than 10GW of wind energy installed, with 29 above the 1GW mark.
Denmark leads the way with almost 40% of its electricity coming from wind, followed by Uruguay, Portugal and Ireland with over 20%, GWEC said.
Growth will be led by Asia, particularly China and India, the report said.
GWEC secretary general Steve Sawyer said: “Wind power is now successfully competing with heavily subsidised incumbents across the globe, building new industries, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and leading the way towards a clean energy future.
“Offshore wind has had a major price breakthrough in the past year, and looks set to live up to the enormous potential that many have believed in for years.
“We see the technology continuing to improve and spread beyond its home base in Europe in the next five to 10 years.”
Image: FreeImages/Hyoung Il So
