Growth in German newly installed wind-power-generation capacity should accelerate in the domestic market in 2010, but the wind industry is increasingly banking on international growth over the longer term, the Bundesverband WindEnergie, or BWE, the sector's main domestic lobby group, said Tuesday.

BWE expects Eastern Europe to become one of the core growth markets for the German wind energy industry, and in the next two to three years these European markets hold a revenue potential of between EUR5 billion and EUR10 billion for the industry, said BWE president, Herrmann Albers.

"Eastern Europe has a lot of catching up to do to contribute its share to the European Union's renewable energy target of 20% [share] by 2020," he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the industry fair Hannover Messe. "We believe that wind energy is the best and most cost efficient way of achieving this," Albers added.

The BWE singled out Poland , Romania and Bulgaria as strong growth markets in Eastern Europe .

In the domestic market, BWE expects new installations in Germany of around 2,300 megawatts in 2010.

In 2009, some 952 wind turbines with a generation capacity of around 1,917 megawatts were newly installed in Germany . The 15% rise, to around 26 gigawatts in overall installed generation capacity, was the first increase in two years, the BWE said in late January.

The BWE expects the German wind industry's core market to expand to take in South America , on top of its existing markets comprising Europe , Asia --notably China --and North America .

The Global Wind Energy Council forecasts the growth volume of the global wind energy market rising to around EUR200 billion a year in 2030 from around EUR30 billion.

The BWE said the German wind energy industry--including manufacturers of turbines and components as well as suppliers--has a global market share of 25% to 30%.

Globally, new installations in 2010 are likely to bring EUR8 billion in added value for German-manufactured turbines and components, Albers said, adding that revenue will be increasingly generated by growth in foreign markets. Production volume from German companies that manufacture abroad isn't included in the figure, he added.

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