Wind power continues to grow in 2004 in the EU

Industry statistics released for the EU wind energy market show that cumulative wind power capacity increased by 22% to 34,205MW at the end of 2004, up from 28,567MW at the end of 2003. In total, 5,703MW of wind power capacity were installed last year, representing a wind turbine manufacturing turnover of some € 5.7 billion. The top five European wind energy markets in 2004 were Spain (2,065MW), Germany (2,037MW), UK (240MW), Portugal (224MW) and Italy (221MW). In 2003, 5,477MW were installed in Europe, and the wind power market increased by 4% in 2004, to 5,703MW. The future growth prospects of European wind power are reliant on creating sustained markets in other European countries on a scale similar to those in Germany and Spain, with a cumulative wind energy capacity of 16,629MW and 8,263MW respectively at the end 2004. The 34,205MW installed in the EU by the end of 2004 will, in an average wind year, produce some 73TW/h of electricity.