March 21, 2005—The global wind power industry installed nearly 8,000 megawatts (MW) of new wind turbines in 2004, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
The 20 percent growth in global wind power capacity is somewhat lower than in 2002 and 2003, when the world wind capacity grew by 28 percent and 26 percent, respectively. According to GWEC, the slower growth is largely due to a slowdown in the United States, caused by last year’s expiration of the production tax credit for wind power (the credit was renewed this year, but will expire again at year’s end).
With the U.S. slowdown, Europe continued to dominate the world wind power market, installing 5,774 MW that accounted for 72.4 percent of the growth in 2004. Total world wind capacity is now at 47,317 MW, with 16,629 MW in Germany, 8,263 MW in Spain, and 6,740 MW in the United States.
For more information, see the GWEC Web site.
