Global wind capacity forecast to hit 800GW by 2021

Global wind capacity is forecast to reach 800GW by 2021. A new report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) predicts 2017 alone will see more than 60GW of new […]

Global wind capacity is forecast to reach 800GW by 2021.

A new report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) predicts 2017 alone will see more than 60GW of new wind installations, rising to an annual market of about 75GW by 2021.

More than 54GW of wind power was put into place in 2016, cumulative capacity increasing by 12.6% to reach a total of 486.8GW.

More than 90 countries are now home to wind energy – 29 have installed above 1,000MW and nine have exceeded the 10,000MW mark.

The proportions of power coming from wind generally continued to increase, led by Denmark at 40%.

The big markets of China, the US and Canada source 4%, 5.5%, and 6% of their power from wind respectively.

GWEC Secretary General Steve Sawyer said: “We are well into a period of disruptive change, moving away from power systems centered on a few large, polluting plants towards markets increasingly dominated by a range of widely distributed renewable energy sources.

“We need to get to a zero emissions power system well before 2050 if we are to meet our climate change and development goals.”

The UK could deliver 1GW of new onshore wind capacity without adding to energy bills.

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