Global wind power capacity increased by 12.4% at the end of 2013, reaching 318.6 GW, after the end of 2012 was 283.4 GW, shows the EurObserv’ER Barometer. In 2013 there were 35.6 GW installed globally in wind turbines, of which 11.3 GW were installed in the EU Member States.
Hence, a reduction of 10 GW in installations market between 2012 and 2013. Worthy of note is that if you take out of the equation the installation market situation in the U.S. and the EU, other markets have grown, being directed by major projects in Asia (with major contributions from China, India and Japan) and Canada.
Regarding the installation of wind turbines market in the EU – 28, the installation of 11.3 GW is the second largest performance, after 2012 12.7 GW were installed. Most installations occurred in only two countries, UK and Germany, which indicates the fragility of other markets. The barometer indicates that such a situation was not met since 2007, when only three countries, Germany, Spain and Denmark, were most of the installations market in the EU.
UK and Germany are the only EU countries that have exceeded 1 GW new installed wind. Markets in Spain and Italy face stagnation, even contraction, such as in France. Furthermore, the French installations market contracted for the third year in a row, reaching a level of installation half the one in 2010.
Although small markets compared to the giants of the southern and northern Europe, poll suggests that despite the problems encountered by support schemes, Poland, Croatia and Romania had a notable activity. On the other hand, apparent stagnation occur in Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Estonia.
Refining the calculation done in the Barometer reveales that, if the wind power production installed in a country is weighted against the number of inhabitants of a country, the ranking is occupied by Denmark (852 KW wind power/1.000 inhabitants), Spain (492 KW wind power/1.000 of inhabitants) and Sweden (468 KW wind power/1.000 inhabitants). Romania is ranked 16th, with 123 kW in wind power/1.000 inhabitants.