2nd UPDATE: Renewables 61% Of New EU Power Generation Capacity In 2009
- (Updates to add details on global wind power in 2009) MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Renewable energy made up the bulk of new power generation capacity added in the European Union last year, the European Wind Energy Association, or EWEA, said Wednesday. Renewables accounted for 61% of new electricity generating capacity in 2009. Of the total new capacity, 39% was from wind power and 16% was from photovoltaic solar power, the EWEA said. "The figures, once again, confirm that wind power, together with other renewable energy technologies and a shift from coal to gas, are delivering massive European carbon reductions," EWEA head Christian Kjaer is quoted as saying in a release. The E.U. plans to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 by 20% from 1990 levels, and is willing to boost that target to 30% if other countries or regions present similar offers. The E.U. has also committed itself to meeting 20% of its electricity demand by 2020 from renewable sources. The wind capacity installed by the end of 2009 will in a normal year produce 163 terawatt hours of electricity, meeting 4.8% of E.U. power demand, the EWEA said. But some countries are already closer to the 20% renewables target. In Spain, wind energy alone met 14.3% of electricity produced in the country last year, while solar energy met another 2.8%, according to electricity grid operator Red Electrica de Espana (REE.MC). Hydroelectric power covered another 9.2% of Spain's electricity demand in 2009. For the second year in a row, more wind power capacity was installed in the E.U. than any other electricity-generating technology. Of the 10,163 megawatts in E.U. wind power added in 2009, 582 MW were installed offshore. Most new wind power capacity was installed in Spain, with 2,459 MW, followed by 1,917 MW in Germany, 1,114 MW in Italy, 1,088 MW in France, and 1,077 MW in the U.K. EWEA's Kjaer warned, however, that project finance for new wind parks in Europe is still tight, and more orders must be announced in the coming months for the sector to repeat the 10 gigawatts installed last year. Wind power capacity rose 31% on a global scale in 2009 to reach 157.9 gigawatts, the global wind energy council, or GWEC, said, also Wednesday. China, with capacity additions of 13 GW in 2009, became the country that expanded wind power the fastest last year, and at the end of 2009 reached an overall installed capacity of 25.1 GW. The U.S. continued the largest producer of wind power with 35 GW in capacity. Shares in Iberdrola Renovables SA (IBR.MC), the world's largest wind power operator, fell 1.3% to EUR3.24 Wednesday, while for wind turbine maker Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica SA (GAM.MC) it fell 3.7% to EUR10.4 in an overall lower market in Madrid. Web site: www.ewea.org -By Bernd Radowitz, Dow Jones Newswires, +34-618 526 915, bernd.radowitz@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=6mvGPwblqvD65nEAUDb8Kg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
