According to the latest estimates by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), 11.6 GW of wind capacity were installed in 2012 (compared to 9.4 GW installed in 2011), raising the total capacity to 105.6 GW.
Renewable energy represented 69% of all new power capacity in 2012, while in a continuing trend fuel oil, coal and nuclear capacity saw negative growth due to decommissioning. Wind energy represented 26% of all new EU power capacity installed in 2012, and investments of between €12.8bn and €17.2bn. It is now meeting 7% of Europe’s electricity demand, up from 6.3% at end 2011.
Overall, the EU is almost 2 GW (1.7%) under its National Renewable Energy Action Plan forecasts. Eighteen Member States are falling behind, including Slovakia, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, France and Portugal. Last year, wind energy installations were led by Germany (2.4 GW, 21% of all new wind power capacity), the UK (1.9 GW, 16%), Italy (1.3 GW, 11%), Romania (0.9 GW, 8%) and Poland (0.9 GW, 8%). In terms of total installed capacity, Germany is also the leader with 31.3 GW (30%), followed by Spain (22.8 GW, 22%), the UK (8.4 GW, 8%), Italy (8.1 GW, 8%) and France (7.2 GW, 7%). The spread of wind energy across Europe is shown by the fact that Denmark, Germany and Spain represented 33% of annual wind power installations in the EU in 2012, down from 85% in 2000.
Source: EWEA
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