Wind power market ‘to triple by 2030′

The global wind power market could triple by 2030, a report by Greenpeace International and the Global Wind Energy Council claimed today.

The latest edition of the bi-annual Global Wind Energy Outlook claimed wind power could supply up to 12% of global electricity by 2020, creating 1.4 million new jobs and reducing CO2 emissions by more than 1.5 billion tons per year – more than 5 times today’s level.

By 2030, it said,wind power could provide more than 20% of global electricity supply.

Speaking at the report’s launch in Beijing, Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council, said: “It is clear that wind energy is going to play a major role in our energy future. But for wind to reach its full potential, governments need to act quickly to address the climate crisis, while there’s still time.”

The study paints three different futures for the wind industry, looking at scenarios out to 2020, 2030 and 2050 – then measures these against two different projections for the development of electricity demand. The first is based on the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook and the second is a more energy efficient future developed by the ECOFYS consultancy and researchers at the University of Utrecht.

Sven Teske, Greenpeace senior energy expert, said: “The most important ingredient for the long-term success of the wind industry is stable, long-term policy, sending a clear signal to investors about the government’s vision for the scope and potential for the technology.”

Wind energy installations totalled 240GW globally by the end of 2011 and the industry is set to grow by at least another 40GW in 2012.

By 2020, the IEA’s New Policies Scenario suggests total capacity would reach 587GW, supplying about 6% of global electricity.

However, the GWEO Moderate scenario suggests this could reach 759 GW, supplying 7.7-8.3% of global electricity supply. The Advanced scenario suggests that with the right policy support, wind power could reach more than 1100GW by 2020, supplying between 11.7-12.6% of global electricity – and saving nearly 1.7 billion tons of CO2 emissions.

Photo: Potential of wind energy has been hailed, courtesy of Wind Power Works