The market for European wind power capacity reached a record high in 2006, rising by 23%, the European Wind Energy Association said in its annual report, on Thursday.
In 2006 alone 7,588 MW of wind power capacity, worth some EUR9 billion was installed compared to 2005.
“The cumulative wind power capacity operating in the E.U. increased by 19% and now exceeds 48,000 MW. In an average wind year this will produce approximately 100 TWh of electricity equal to 3.3% of total EU electricity consumption. For the seventh consecutive year, wind power is second only to gas-fired capacity in terms of new electricity generating installations,” the EWEA said.
Germany and Spain continue to attract the majority of investments. In 2006 these two countries represented 50% of the EU market. However, the figures confirm a healthy trend in the European market towards less reliance on Germany and Spain. In 2002, only 680 MW of European wind power capacity was installed outside the first-mover countries: Germany, Spain and Denmark. Last year, the figure was 3,755 MW.
New wind power installations in the EU-10 tripled from 60 MW in 2005 to 183 MW in 2006, mainly driven by Poland, Lithuania and Hungary. Bulgaria installed 22 MW, while Romania connected 1.3 MW. Eight countries now have more than 1,000 MW of wind power installed.
Greece in not included in these eight countries, with its wind power capacity reaching 172,5 MW in 2006.