photo: Todd Woody
The numbers are in, and as expected 2008 set a record year for the worldwide wind industry as new wind farms generating a total of 27,000 megawatts of greenhouse gas-free electricity came online, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
The quick-click headline was that the United States overtook the world’s green superpower, Germany, by installing 8,358 megawatts in 2008 – a 50% jump from the previous year and enough wind energy to power two million American homes. But the big story this year will be China’s rapid emergence as the next global wind power.
China last year doubled its wind energy capacity – for the fourth straight year – adding 6,300 megawatts of new electricity generation for a total capacity of 12,210 megawatts. A third of the world’s new wind capacity last year was installed in Asia, with China accounting for 73% of that power. China reached its 2010 target of generating 5,000 megawatts of wind-powered electricity in 2007 and is expected to hit its 2030 goal of 30,000 megawatts years early.
“In 2009, new installed capacity is expected to nearly double again, which will be one third or more of the world’s total new installed capacity for the year,” Li Junfeng, Secretary General of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industry Association, said in a statement.
Of course, 30,000 megawatts of wind is but a flicker in a country with more than 300,000 megawatts of coal-fired energy online but it’s huge by world standards and has spawned both a burgeoning domestic wind industry and growing investment by overseas companies. Denmark’s Vestas, the world’s largest turbine maker, will open its fifth factory in China this year and it received orders for another 200 megawatts’ worth of turbines at the end of 2008. General Electric (GE), one of only two U.S. turbine makers, also operates a factory in China and in January the company announced a joint venture with China’s A-Power Energy Generation to make turbine gearboxes. In a separate deal with A-Power, GE will supply the company with 900 turbine gearboxes starting next year.
As the financial crisis slows growth in the U.S. and Europe, India is another potential wind power. It ended 2008 with 9,645 megawatts of wind energy and added more capacity that year – 1,800 megawatts – than former world leaders Germany and Spain. Indian turbine maker Suzlon also has been moving onto European turf, relocating its international headquarters to Denmark and acquiring German turbine manufacturer REPower.
Installed global wind capacity now stands at 120.8 gigawatts with the 2008 turbine market worth $47.5 billion, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.
Green Wombat 
Keep the green wind power coming!!!
Yes, but how much energy was factored in to engineer, manufacture, and maintain the wind powered turbines? And how many years will it take to offset these factors?
Poor research here. An article just appeared in Nature showing that most (maybe over 70%) of the wind turbines put up in China over the past few years aren’t performing anywhere close to expectations because on grid stability and connectivity challenges. Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way, but that’s the way it is there. It may be 5 years before most are operating above 20% capacity factor. New installations in advanced countries are now usually above 30% CF. The essence of the problem is that the wind is often stronger when demand in minimal (in the middle of the night), and there hasn’t been a good option for energy storage.
Fortunately, there a solution is coming. Scientists have recently shown that off-peak wind energy can be used to recycle CO2 into ethanol, gasoline, and jet fuel at up to 60% efficiency. These wind-generated carbon-neutral fuels, dubbed WindFuels, will sometimes compete when oil is only $45/bbl. Recycling CO2 into liquid fuels using off-peak wind energy addresses both the oil and the climate challenges, and it completely stabilizes the power grid. Detailed scientific, engineering, and economics analyses are available at http://windfuels.com/ .
Annual WindFuels production per land area in good wind regions will exceed biofuels production density in fertile farming areas by a factor of 4 to 30.
The cost of producing ethanol or gasoline from CO2 and wind energy will depend mostly on the cost of the off-peak wind energy. In some areas, its cost is already averaging below 3 cents/kWhr and it continues to drop as more wind is added. At this rate, the cost of ethanol and even gasoline from wind and CO2 can be below $1.50/gal. The DOE and investors needs to support this.
Wind towers are killing all the pretty birds in this world.
Really? Asking how much it took to make the turbines? How much to maintain? I guarantee maintenance is much less on the wind turbines than a coal plant.
Its that kind of shortsightedness that lead us to the point we are today, kowtowing to the Middle East to satiate our addiction.
It will take time and money to secure our country’s future and it’s safety. We just have to not let our inability to see past our noses get in the way.
Nuclear. Good question. How about providing something useful. A common sense thought would be that even if the investment, or sunk costs, are large that they are fixed and that the power coming from the turbines are, while maybe limited, huge in comparison. Even if it is not the most efficient method of power production today the evolution of the technology is a major positive. What are you really asking?
Maybe they can use the Three Gorges Dam to carry the reserves for all this wind, only hydro can act a truly good spinning reserve, otherwise you are running gas turbines at part load…very inefficient. Wind integration is very far from being simple, or efficient as it is implemented today. It is not “free” energy by any means it contains MANY hidden costs in manner in which it affects the operation of other electric generation assets, the more wind you have, the more you see diminishing returns on those wind investments.
I have a basic question. When we harness wind power by placing fans in wind paths are we doing anything harmful to the environment by altering the force of wind along its path. Maybe its not a big deal now, but imagine if the whole world does the same thing. I am sure emitting some CO2 was not a big deal once upon a time in the clean world. Again, pardon my ignoranc eon the subject but thought i had to ask
Why is it that wind energy advocates never disclose (publicly) the actual energy generated from installed wind capacity. Statements such as the world adding “27,000 megawatts of greenhouse-gas free electricity” are boldly false and misleading, because wind energy is extremely inefficient — installed capacity usually translates to fewer than 20% of actual energy output due to variability in wind, down time, etc. When will wind advocates be willing to tell the truth?
China is a motivated and proud nation. They are doing what ever it takes to become successful and prosperous… They do not believe in the “total medals” theory that the lovers of mediocrety in this country cling to. There in it to win it and we should learn from their example before it too late. Then again, they dont have a group of self-serving, ego-mainiacs running their government. Something to think about…
I wouldnt exactly label China a “global wind power” – it kind of implies that they are cornering the market or pioneering the technology. they arent. They wont be exporting any of the power they produce with the turbines, they will simply be using it for their own use. They are even IMPORTING the materials, equipment, and technology to build the turbines needed. In any case, they will STILL be short of what they need to completely power the entire country.
Erik – please move to China. Then you’ll find out that their government is still a communist dictatorship, regardless of their advances. Aren’t they the ones learning from OUR example, by becoming more capitalistic as time goes on? And don’t a lot of the advances in green power exist because of technology we developed, or helped to develop? I’d rather elect flawed leaders than have so-called “perfect” leaders forced on me.
Large scale wind integration becomes less complicated if you have geographical diversity in your portfolio of wind projects. In other words, when the wind stops blowing in one area it often starts blowing in another. And anyone who is REALLY serious about saving all the pretty birds should stop worrying about wind turbines and instead set about eliminating the avian community’s #1 killer: housecats.
China also has money to invest in wind power – the US doesn’t. In fact, we’re borrowing more from China everyday – which gives them more real money to invest.
This may come to a halt soon if we don’t stop printing money like crazy. What happens when China won’t loan us money anymore? They’re threatening to do just that:
http://www.effor.com/blog/index.php/2009/01/31/will-china-stop-loaning-us-money
Steve – I’d rather have a monkey forced on me as a leader than having idiots around me elect a joker like Bush. China is considering a second stimulus bill even as the Senate dickers around in the Capitol.