Wind to meet 7.3% of global power demand by 2018 - Navigant

Jul 22, 2014 - Wind power will be able to satisfy 7.28% of the global electricity demand by 2018, as compared to a bit over 2.87% projected for 2014, a new report from Navigant Research shows.

Feng Zhao, research director with Navigant Research, expects to see about 250 GW of new wind capacity being installed through 2018. Offshore wind is expected to be the main driver for that increase given the 50% year-on-year jump in 2013 offshore installations to 1.72 GW. Almost half of the total is located in the UK.

According to the BTM Wind Report, last year wind additions worldwide amounted to 36.13 GW. “Last year was the first in which the wind industry experienced negative growth since 2004, but there are signs that the 2013 slowdown will turn out to be an anomaly,” Zhao stated. The research firm explained the slowed growth in the global wind market last year with “headwinds in several key markets”.

In 2013 nearly half of the newly-added capacity, or 16.1 GW, was installed in China, which was able to regain its title as the top wind power market around the globe.

As for the onshore segment, over 314 GW of onshore wind turbines were operational globally at the end of 2013, representing 98% of all wind power capacity worldwide.

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