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Global wind power applications
In recent years, the global wind power industry has developed rapidly and has promising prospects. Various countries have placed high expectations on wind power generation. Wind power generation has become one of the fastest growing industries in the world.
According to the statistics of GWEC, the total global wind power installations was 742,689 MW by end of 2020, of which wind power in Asia accounts for the largest proportion, reaching 46%. The new wind power installation in 2020 was 93 GW, a year-on-year increase of 53%. Wind power occupies an important position in new energy power generation and is of great significance to sustainable development.
Figure 1: Total global wind power capacity by end of 2020
China: As the world’s largest market for wind power, construction of wind power in China has developed rapidly. Since 2010, whether it is annual new installed capacity or cumulative installed capacity, China’s capacity volume ranking first in the world. In 2020, China’s newly wind power installation was 52,000 MW, accounting for 46% of the world’s new wind power generation installations, the highest proportion in the world. By the end of 2020, China’s cumulative wind power installations was 281,384 MW. China’s wind power installation boom continues in progress. In the future, China’s wind power generation will continue to be developed around the western and eastern coastal areas rich in wind resources.
United States: The United States has world-class wind energy resources, its wind cost is much lower than other countries, with a great cost advantage. According to a report by the US Energy Information Administration, wind energy in the United States will account for the largest proportion of new energy, reaching 44%. United States newly wind power installation was 16,913 MW, accounting for a global total of new wind power installed capacity of 18%. The position of wind energy in the U.S. energy results is becoming more and more important.
Figure 2: Data from G WEC [2] New wind power installations in 2020
European Union: The European Union’s wind power market is developing steadily. The newly installed capacity of wind power continues to increase, and the proportion of wind power is gradually increasing. The installed wind power industry in the EU has been more than the sum of natural gas and coal, the cumulative installed capacity has fulfilled 15% of EU’s electricity consumption, equivalent to 8,700 million households’ daily supply. According to GWEC ‘s forecast, the European Union’s installed wind power capacity will be second only to Asia in the future, and it will become an important wind power market in the world.
Offshore wind power started late, accounting for only 5% of the world’s cumulative installed capacity of wind power. However, due to the stability of sea breeze resources and the characteristics of large power generation, offshore wind power has developed rapidly globally in recent years. In 2020, the global new offshore wind power installation was 6,068 MW, accounted for 7% of the total amount of new installed capacity, similar to 6.1 GW in 2019, which was the largest installed capacity. According to GWEC forecast, the world’s new offshore wind power installed capacity will exceed 205 GW by 2030, including 6.2 GW floating offshore wind power, and a floating offshore wind power will achieve full commercialization.
Figure 3: Onshore and offshore wind installation capacity data