International Energy Agency Wind Energy Annual Report Available for Download

This is an excerpt from the Third Quarter 2012 edition of the Wind Program R&D Newsletter.

The IEA Wind Energy 2011 Annual Report is available for download on the Wind Program website. The report contains information on generation capacity, progress toward national objectives, benefits to national economies, issues affecting growth, costs of projects and turbines, national incentive programs, and research and development results from the 20 International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries and China. The Executive Summary synthesizes the information for 2011 and includes data on capacity and generation since 1995.

Key statistics found in the report include:

• The world added about 40 gigawatts (GW) of wind generation in 2011, a 24% increase from the previous year
• Capacity increased in the IEA Wind member countries as a whole, from less than 5 GW in 1995 to more than 200 GW in 2011
• More than 85% of the world's wind-generating capacity resides in the 20 IEA Wind member countries and China
• Among the IEA Wind member countries, offshore wind systems totaled about 3.3 GW at the end of 2011.
• Electrical production from wind met 2.8% of the total electrical demand in IEA Wind member countries.

Read the full IEA Wind Energy 2011 Annual Report Press Release.

Sources: Energy.gov