World wind power market recovers well and regains momentum

Following the slowdown in 2010, the world wind power market recovered well in the first half of 2011 and regained its upward momentum. By the end of June 2011, the installed capacity of wind power in the world reached 215,000 MW. Of these, 18405 MW was new capacity in the first six months of 2011, an increase of 15% from the first half of 2010, and only 16,000 MW in the first half of 2010.

According to the latest statistics from the World Wind Energy Association, global wind power capacity increased by 9.3% in the first six months of 2011, an increase of 22.9% from the same period in 2010. In contrast, the annual growth rate in 2010 was 23.6%.

The top five wind power markets are China, the United States, Germany, Spain, and India. The five countries continue to account for most of the world's wind power installed capacity, accounting for 74% of the global wind power installed capacity.

China continues to dominate the world wind power market. Only 8 GW was added in the first six months of 2011, the highest figure for the same period in recent years. From January to June 2011, China installed 43% of the world's new wind turbines, which is 50% of the total in 2010. As of June 2011, China's total installed capacity was approximately 52 GW.

At the same time, the European wind power market is recovering. In most European countries, wind power installed capacity showed stronger growth in the first half of 2011 than in the previous year: Germany added 766 MW to a total of 27,981 MW; Spain, 484 MW, a total of 21,150 MW; Italy, 460 MW, a total of 6,200 MW; and France, 400 MW, a total of 6,060 MW; 504MW in the United Kingdom, a total of 5707MW; Portugal 260MW, a total of 3960MW.

Among them, only France and Denmark compared with the first half of 2010, new installed capacity has decreased, Denmark even fell to the top 10 outside the market, while Portugal entered the new top 10 ranking.

At the same time, from January to June 2011, the U.S. market increased by 2252 MW, which is a year-on-year increase of approximately 90%, but it is weak compared with 2010. However, whether the U.S. market can regain its upward momentum remains to be seen. It has installed a total capacity of nearly 10 GW in 2009. Canada achieved relatively strong growth, with 603 MW installed in the first half of 2011. Ontario is the most powerful province, benefiting from the Green Energy Act.

The World Wind Energy Association's research report points out that some new markets around the world have also grown. In the first half of 2011, Venezuela, Honduras and Ethiopia became wind energy users. Dominica also installed its first large-scale wind farm and increased its capacity from 0.2 MW to 60.2 MW.

In Europe, from January to June 2011, Eastern European emerging markets once again showed the highest growth rate. Romania grew 10% (59MW new), Poland 28% (245MW new), Croatia 28% (20MW new), and Estonia 32% (48MW new). Some countries have also introduced new and ambitious wind power legislation, including Ecuador, Malaysia, and Uganda, which use grid-connected electricity price systems to develop renewable energy sources.

In industrialized countries, Japan is expected to play an active role in wind power generation for the foreseeable future and will soon enter the leading wind power generation countries.

It is predicted that by the end of 2011, the installed capacity of wind power in the world will reach 240 GW, which will account for nearly 3% of global electricity demand. In the second half of 2011, it is expected that the global capacity will increase by 25,500 MW, which will increase the annual installed capacity to 43,900 MW, compared with 37,642 MW in 2010.