According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), global wind power installations exceeded 51 GW in 2014, a strong increase compared to 2013 when about 35 GW were installed and even compared to 2012 (more than 45 GW installed). China contributed to nearly half of these capacity additions with more than 23 GW installed, followed by Germany with 5.3 GW, the United States with 4.9 GW, Brazil with 2.5 GW, India with 2.3 GW and Canada with 1.9 GW. Nearly 13 GW were installed in Europe (about 12 GW in the European Union), with the top markets being Germany (nearly 40 GW installed at the end of 2014), the United Kingdom (+1.7 GW to 12.4 GW), France (+1 GW to 9.3 GW) and Sweden (+1 GW to 5.4 GW). Wind installations in large markets such as Spain or Italy were modest (28 MW in Spain to 23 GW and 108 MW in Italy to 8.7 GW).
The GWEC expects the 2015 market to top 50 GW again in 2015, and to reach 60 GW per year by 2018, thanks to emerging markets such as China and India. Latin America is becoming a strong regional market (+3.7 GW installed in 2014), led by Brazil (+2.5 GW), but with Mexico catching up quickly (+634 MW in 2014). Africa is also developing its wind capacities, with 934 MW installed in 2014 (+58% over 2013).
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