Despite an overall slump in installations in 2013, the global cumulative wind power capacity will more than double from 319.6 GW at the end of 2013 to 678.5 GW by 2020, says research and consulting firm GlobalData.
The company’s latest report states that China, the largest single wind power market responsible for 45 percent of total global annual capacity additions in 2013, is expected to have a cumulative wind capacity of 239.7 GW by 2020.
China overtook the U.S. as the leading market for installations in 2010, when it added a massive 18.9 GW of wind capacity.
“China doubled its cumulative wind capacity every year from 2006 to 2009 and has continued to grow significantly since then,” said GlobalData alternative energy analyst Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham. “Supportive government policies, such as an attractive concessional program and the availability of low-cost financing from banks, have been fundamental to China’s success.
“While China will continue to be the largest global wind power market through to 2020, growth for theforecast period will be slow due to a large installation base.”
The report also states that the U.S. will remain the second largest global wind power market in terms of cumulative installed capacity, increasing from 68.9 GW in 2014 to 104.1 GW in 2020. U.S. growth will largely be driven by renewable energy targets in several states, such as Alaska’s aim to reach 50 percent renewable power generation and Texas’ mandate to achieve 10 GW of renewable capacity, both by 2025.
Nagatham concludes: “The slump in 2013 was largely a product of a decrease in installations in the U.S. and Spain. While there are likely to be further slight falls in annual capacity additions in 2015 and 2016, overall industry growth will not be affected as global annual capacity additions are expected to exceed 60 GW by 2020.”
The full report, “Wind Power, Update 2014 — Global Market Size, Average Price, Competitive Landscape, and Key Country Analysis to 2020” is available for purchase at store.globaldata.com.
— Source: GlobalData
