by Edward Milford
27. July 2009 06:46
After several boom years for the wind industry, along has come the credit crunch. What impact has that had on the rate of installations? The answer for 2008 was – not much. Over 28,000 MW of new wind capacity was installed worldwide last year; this is an increase of 42% on 2007’s figure, itself a record. It brings the global total up to more than 122,000 MW. All those turbines generated more than 1.3% of the world’s electricity. (Remember, it was only in 2007 that wind generated 1% of the world’s electricity.)
Of course, there are significant variations within that growth. The US led the way with 9527 MW, and overtakes Germany as the country with the largest installed wind capacity. China also experienced very rapid growth in its installations; the 6246 MW they installed more than doubled the previous total installed capacity of 5875 MW. (There are various good sources of wind energy data; these figures are from the annual BTM report and World Market Update 2008.)
The credit crunch is having an impact on the sector though, and the 2009 installation numbers will be watched with interest. There have been significant falls, for instance, in IPO fund-raising by renewable energy companies; counteracting this many of the large, cash-rich utilities are increasing their activities in the renewable sector. There are plenty more details in the UNEP and New Energy Finance report on 'Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment'.
Oh, and ‘Part 43’ is a random figure; I’m sure I could come up with another 42 if need be.
