Worldwide wind Energy Capacity up by 1000%

Global wind energy capacity has jumped up a whopping 1000% in the last 10 years or so, as wind energy prices decreased and governments started to subsidize wind energy to reduce green house gas emissions. Wind Energy has grown in all parts of the globe such as Europe, India, China and the USA. The parabolic rise in the wind energy capacity can be seen in the graph below. Readers should see how wind energy entered a takeoff phase after 2000. From a 25 GW cumulative capacity in 2002, wind energy capacity now exceeds 275 GW which is a big achievement. A total of 44 GW of wind energy capacity was installed last year with almost half of the capacity being put up by China.

Even as onshore wind energy installations have started to level off, offshore wind farms are starting to gain traction rapidly in Europe. Offshore wind energy has huge potential. It is estimated that USA can be fully supplied with electricity from just offshore wind energy farms. Offshore wind energy farms have the advantage that they do not disrupt the scenery and also have higher CUF factors. Wind Energy is clean and its costs are also declining constantly.

Read about Offshore Wind – Understanding Companies,Farms,Costs, Pros and Cons of Offshore Wind Projects.

China and Europe are leading the charge on offshore wind energy and even India recently commissioned a study to estimate the offshore wind energy potential. Wind Energy has a bright future as its costs have started to compete with fossil fuel industry. It has a mature industrial supply chain and regulators as well as utilities have become quite comfortable with the technology.

Read more about Wind Power in India.

Given below is the World Cumulative Wind Power Capacity since 1980 till date

Source: Earth Policy Institute