The overall capacity of all wind turbines installed worldwide by the end of 2019 reached 650.8 GW, according to statistics published by the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA).
59 667 MW of capacity was added in 2019, substantially more than the 50 252 MW of capacity added in 2018.
Last year was the second strongest wind year in terms of market size, with a growth rate of 10.1%, higher than the 9.3% of the previous year, but lower than in 2016 and 2017.
All wind turbines installed by the end of 2019 can cover more than 6% of the global electricity demand, WWEA posits.
China and the US both showed strong years with 27.5 GW and 9.1 GW, respectively, of new installations − in both cases the biggest market volume of the last five years.
In particular, most of the European markets suffered from insufficient policies and faced a strong decline, in particular the collapse of the former world leader Germany, which only added 2 GW, down from 6.2 GW in 2017, the WWEA points out.
During an April 16 webinar hosted by the WWEA, experts from Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Maghreb and Middle East and North Africa region, North America, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine presented updates on the most recent market development of the main world regions in 2019 and of current prospects and challenges.
The speakers agreed that the current coronavirus crisis would have a global impact on the market development this year, with the wind industry globally expected to experience a general slowdown in most markets.
Disrupted international supply chains and national lockdown regulations were hampering the wind sector, like most other industries.
“Many governments have started to prepare plans and stimulus programmes to restore their economies after the corona crisis.
"The WWEA’s advice to all governments: put investments in renewable energy, including wind power, at the centre of your economic strategies. Not only will this help overcome the economic devastation caused by the corona crisis, it will also address the world’s second challenge, the climate crisis,” says WWEA secretary general Stefan Gsänger.