Wind power capacity surged by 18 percent in EU in 2005

A total of 40,504 megawatts of wind generators were installed at the end of December, a rise of 6,183 MW, or 18 percent, over a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) said.
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Over the last decade, wind power capacity in the EU has increased by an average 32 percent year, it said in a press release. Germany, Spain and Denmark have the most capacity, with 18,428 MW, 10,027 MW and 3,122 MW respectively. The 40,504 MW installed last year will produce some 83 Terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in an average year for European weather, EWEA said. For 2004, that accounts for 2.8 percent of EU electricity consumption. The EU has placed a big political priority on the quest for clean, domestically-produced energy sources to help wean it from dependence on oil and gas, which with coal are the biggest sources of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The search has been sharpened in past weeks by concern over Russia as a reliable supplier of gas. Six percent of the EU-15's energy needs are met today by wind and other renewables, half of which comes from wind, although the proportion varies greatly among member states. The European Commission has set a goal of 12 percent from renewables by 2010, and the European Parliament last September demanded a mandatory benchmark of 20 percent by 2020. © 2006 AFP