Welcome to IEA Wind Member Country Activities for the European Commission and European Wind Energy Association

Europe continues to be one of the world’s strongest markets for wind energy development. In 2010, the European Union (EU) saw reasonable growth in light of the economic crisis with installations of 9,295 MW, thereby reaffirming its status as a leading wind energy market (1). Industry statistics released by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) show that in 2010, cumulative wind capacity increased by 12.3% to reach a level of 84,278 MW; this was up from 75,092 MW at the end 2009 (Figure 1). This 9.3 GW of new wind power capacity represents a wind turbine manufacturing turnover of some 12.7 billion euro (17.07 billion USD), of which 2.6 billion euro (3.5 million USD) is from offshore wind investments.

Over the last 15 years, cumulative wind energy installations in the EU have increased steadily from 814 MW in 1995 to 9,295 MW, an average annual growth rate of 17.6%. Looking beyond Europe, the global market for wind turbines grew by 22.5% last year to a total of 194.4 GW.

In the EU, wind power continues to be one of the most popular electricity generating technologies for expanding capacity. Since 2000, 271 GW of new electricity generating capacity of all types has been installed in the EU. And 2010 was a record year with 55.4 GW of new capacity installed. Since 2000, installed wind capacity has increased almost seven times from 12.9 GW to 84.3 GW. Over the last ten years, according to figures from Platts PowerVision and EWEA, new gas installations totaled 131.3 GW, while wind energy installations totaled more than 75 GW. Wind represented 27.7% of the total new generation installations over the period (Figure 2).

In 2010, wind power installations accounted for 17% of new power installations in Europe and renewables together represented 41% of total new installed capacity – the fifth consecutive year that renewable represent over 40% of total installations. Wind energy now represents 10% of the total EU installed power capacity (Figure 3). Total wind power capacity installed by the end of 2010 will produce 181 TWh, meeting 5.3 % of gross EU final power consumption in an average wind year, avoiding about 115 million tons of CO2 annually. By comparison, in 2000, less than 0.9% of EU electricity demand was met by wind power. The countries with the highest penetration of wind energy were, in 2010, Denmark (24%), Portugal (14.8%), Spain (14%), Ireland (10.1%) and Germany (9.4%).

Capacity increase in 2010 was driven by Spain, Germany, and France, together representing 44% of EU total. Spain added 1,516 MW to reach 20,676 MW; Germany added 1,493 MW to reach 27,214 MW; France installed 1,086 MW for a total of 5,660 MW; and the UK added 966 MW reaching 5,204 MW. The new Member States of the EU performed remarkably well and increased their installed wind capacity by 82.5%, with Romania, installing 448 MW on top of a cumulative capacity at the end 2009 of just 14 MW. Poland (382 MW) and Bulgaria (198 MW) follow.

During 2010 all EU Member States were required to submit to the European Commission a National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) detailing sectoral and technology-specific targets and all policy measures implemented to reach their binding 2020 RES target as set out in EU directive 2009/28/EC – or “RES directive.” Summing the 27 NREAPs, it is expected that over 34% of EU electricity demand be covered by RES, almost half of that (14%) by wind energy alone.

The correct implementation of the NREAPs should ensure an increased build-out of wind and other RES energy projects up to 2020. However, slow administrative processes, problems with grid access, and legislative uncertainty are still creating bottlenecks (see section 2).

Offshore wind, seen as a key market for European expansion, had a record year in 2010. Installing 883 MW during 2010 brought cumulative installations to 2,946 MW in 45 wind farms spread across nine countries (Figure 4). In 2010, Thanet in the UK became the biggest offshore wind farm in the world with a capacity of 300 MW installed. Offshore wind installations represent, at the end of 2010, 3.5% of the total installed wind power capacity in the EU.

The short-term prospects for offshore wind are promising, with several projects planned to be connected to the grid in 2011. EWEA expects another 1 GW of offshore capacity to be fully grid connected during 2011, part of 3.3 GW currently under construction in 10 wind farms. Therefore, 2011 could see a 75% growth in the offshore market compared to the previous year. When the latter 10 wind farms are completed, Europe’s installed offshore capacity will increase to 6.2 GW as shown in Figure 5. At the end of 2010, EWEA identified 19 GW of consented offshore projects and a further proposed pipeline of over 100 GW.

The short-term prospects for offshore wind are promising, with several projects planned to be connected to the grid in 2011. EWEA expects another 1 GW of offshore capacity to be fully grid connected during 2011, part of 3.3 GW currently under construction in 10 wind farms. Therefore, 2011 could see a 75% growth in the offshore market compared to the previous year. When the latter 10 wind farms are completed, Europe's installed offshore capacity will increase to 6.2 GW as shown in Figure 5. At the end of 2010, EWEA identified 19 GW of consented offshore projects and a further proposed pipeline of over 100 GW.