The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has published the 15th edition of the Global Wind Report which provides a global view of the sector through the latest market data, country profiles, trends and analysis. According to the report, 2019 was the second biggest year for wind power historically, with installations of 60.4GW of new capacity worldwide and year-on-year growth of 19%.
The main driver of this growth was market-based mechanisms, with auctioned wind capacity in 2019 surpassing 40GW worldwide, accounting for two-thirds of total new capacity and doubling auctioned capacity compared to 2018.
The majority of wind energy installations in 2019 were located in established markets, with the top 5 markets (China, US, UK, India and Spain) accounting for 70% of new capacity. In terms of cumulative installations, China, US, Germany, India and Spain remain the top markets, collectively making up 73% of the total 651GW of wind power capacity across the world.
The Asia Pacific region was the global leader for new onshore wind installations in 2019, installing 28.1GW of new capacity, more than half of the total new global capacity. Despite a slump in Germany’s wind market, Europe still saw a 30% year-on-year growth for its onshore wind market, driven by strong growth in Spain, Sweden and Greece. Emerging markets for wind in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and South East Asia also showed moderate growth in 2019, with combined installations of 4.5GW.
Looking to offshore wind, 2019 was a record year for the sector with 6.1GW installed and now accounting for 10% of total wind installations globally. This growth was led by China, which remains in the number-one position for new offshore capacity with 2.3GW installed in 2019. In terms of cumulative offshore wind capacity, the UK remains in the top spot with 9.7GW, accounting for nearly one-third of the 29.1GW of total global capacity.
The report forecasts that this growth will continue, with over 355GW of wind energy capacity added over the next five years. This would mean that we would see 71GW of wind energy added each year to the end of 2024, with offshore wind expanding its share of total wind energy installations to 20% by that time.
This forecast will undoubtedly be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, due to disruptions to global supply chains and project execution in 2020. However, it is too soon to predict the extent of the virus’s impact on the wider global economy and energy markets.GWEC Market Intelligence is monitoring the situation closely, and will publish an updated Market Outlook for 2020-2024 in Q2 2020.