Powered by 30,500MW of new installations in China, the global wind power industry installed 63,013MW in 2015, representing annual market growth of 22%, according to the global statistics released by GWEC.
Total global capacity reached 432,419MW at the end of 2015, representing cumulative growth of 17%. China has edged past the European Union in terms of total installed capacity, with 145.1GW to the EU's 141.6GW. India chalked up a respectable 2,623MW, pushing past Spain into fourth place in terms of cumulative capacity, after China, the US and Germany. Germany's record 6,013MW led a stronger than expected European market, followed by Poland (1,266MW), France (1,073MW), the UK (975MW) and Turkey (956MW). In the US, more than 5,000MW was installed in a remarkable fourth quarter, which resulted in an annual market of 8,598MW, and a cumulative total of 74,471MW.
Canada installed 1,506MW, pushing past the 10GW barrier to end 2015 with 11,200MW; and Mexico chalked up 714MW to end the year at 3,073MW.
Brazil installed 2,754MW, with cumulative capacity reaching 8.7GW. Uruguay installed 316MW in 2015, bringing cumulative installations to 845MW. New wind power was also added in Panama, Chile, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Argentina.
The Middle East and Africa was led by South Africa's 483MW market in 2015, pushing the country's total installations over the 1GW mark. Jordan opened its first large commercial wind power plant in 2015, and Ethiopia added a large new plant, pushing the region's total to 3,289MW.
Australia and the Pacific were quiet, although Australia added 380MW to push the country's total installations to over 4GW.
