Wind power supplies 8% of EU’s electricity in 2014

Grid connected wind power plants supplied 8% of the electricity demand in the European Union last year, a report by The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) shows.

The 2014 JRC wind status report, published last Thursday, presents the technology, market and economics of the wind energy sector with a focus on the EU.

According to the report, the impressive growth of the industry will allow it to reach at least 12% share in the EU's electricity mix by 2020, a significant contribution to the goal of the European energy and climate package of 20% share of energy from renewable sources.

Cumulative installed wind power capacity in the EU reached 129 GW at the end of 2014. In an average year, these wind turbines will produce 265 TWh of electricity, which is equivalent to the combined annual consumption of Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and Ireland. At the same time, last year six countries in the EU -- Denmark, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Romania and Germany, generated over 10 % of their electricity from wind.

The global wind power market grew by 48% year-on-year with 52.8 GW of new capacity added in 2014. The global cumulative capacity thus reached 370 GW, up from 3 GW just two decades ago.

European turbine manufacturers accounted for 78% of the non-China world market in 2014.

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