Nearly 15,200 megawatts of capacity was installed in 2006, taking total installed wind energy capacity to 74,223 megawatts, up from 59,091 in 2005, according to figures released last month by the Brussels-based Global Wind Energy Council. New wind energy projects were developed in more than 70 countries, with new generating equipment valued at more than $23 billion, the GWEC said.
The U.S. continued to lead the way with 2,454 megawatts of new installed capacity, followed by Germany, 2,233 megawatts; India, 1,840 megawatts; Spain, 1,587 megawatts; China, 1,347 megawatts; and France, 810 megawatts.
The countries with the highest total of installed wind energy capacity are Germany, Spain, the U.S., India and Denmark. GWEC said 13 other countries "can now be counted among those with more than 1,000 megawatts of wind capacity, with France and Canada reaching this threshold in 2006."
Europe remains the leading market, with 65 percent of the world's installed wind capacity. Germany and Spain represent 50 percent of the EU market.
Asia is experiencing the strongest increase in installed capacity outside of Europe, the GWEC said. China more than doubled its capacity in 2006.
The relatively nascent market in Africa and the Middle East grew at a fast pace, while growth in Australia was slow in 2006. The Latin America and Caribbean markets trail the rest of the world by a wide margin.
Each country's alternative energy strategy can be quite different. Norway, for example, gets all of its electricity from hydroelectric power. Austria uses a lot of biomass. France and Sweden have a lot of nuclear capacity.
Denmark is using less than 20 percent of its potential wind resource but generates about 20 percent of its electricity through wind energy.
WindVision, one of world's largest wind turbine manufacturers, is based in Seoul, Korea. It has taken new orders from all over the world since the start of year, including orders in January for 112 wind turbine units for power projects in Japan, and Taiwan. WindVision in February received orders for 220 units for two power projects in China. This month it received orders for 14 units for a project in Spain and for 27 units for a project in Italy.
