China again doubled its installed wind power capacity in 2009, during a year when most of the world’s wind power centers also saw wind installations rise despite the economic recession.

China was the world’s largest market for wind energy last year, having installed around 13,000 megawatts according to the Global Wind Energy Council, which compiles the data yearly.

New Chinese wind installations soared by 100 percent from 2008 capacity, bringing the country’s capacity to about 25,100 MW, or 25.1 gigawatts, of wind-generated electricity.

The council noted that China has been doubling its wind power installation for the past five years.

Li Junfeng, secretary general of the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association, said that given the current growth rates, China would be able to reach even its unofficial target of reaching 150 GW well ahead of 2020.

China’s wind growth was part of what is considered a surprising performance for the entire sector worldwide.

Worldwide, wind power rose by 31 percent and now stands at 157.9 GW, producing 340 terawatt-hours of emissions-free electricity yearly.

Wind energy is now an important player in the global energy markets, the council said. The global wind market for turbine installations last year was worth about $63 billion, and the sector now reportedly employs around half a million people.

Much of installed wind power growth around the world, which takes place in the middle of a serious financial crisis, is attributed to energy policies of countries that aggressively promote wind.

Many governments also prioritized renewable energy development in their economic stimulus plans, with much of that support going to the wind energy sector.

“The Chinese government is taking very seriously its responsibility to limit carbon dioxide emissions while providing energy for its growing economy,” Mr. Li said, speaking for China.

The United States, a country without a single offshore wind farm, is still the world’s largest wind energy producer in terms of installed capacity with 35 GW. It increased capacity by 39 percent last year.

Wind sector growth was unexpected in the United States as analysts in early 2009 predicted a drop of as high as 50 percent in wind power development.

United States President Barack Obama’s stimulus, which guaranteed about $6 billion in loans to the renewable energy sector in February, was credited for overturning analyst predictions.

Still, Denise Bode, chief executive of the American Wind Energy Association, warned that turbine manufacturing was down compared with 2008 levels, and “needs long-term policy certainty and market pull in order to grow.”

Europe installed 10.5 GW, led by Spain with 2.5 GW and Germany with 1.9 GW. Italy, France and Britain each installed 1 GW of new wind capacity.

Asia was the largest regional market for wind energy in 2009 with 14 GW of new capacity largely coming from India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

“The continued rapid growth of wind power despite the financial crisis and economic downturn is testament to the inherent attractiveness of the technology, which is clean, reliable and quick to install,” said Steve Sawyer, the council’s secretary general.

Source: Ecoseed.org