The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA, Brussels, Belgium) reported that countries in Europe had installed 34,205 MW of wind power to the end of last year, an increase of 19.7% over 2003. A total of 5,703 MW was installed in 2004, up 4% from 2003 and representing revenue for turbine manufacturers of Euro 5.7 billion. The top five markets for wind installations last year were Spain with 2,065 MW, Germany (2,037 MW), the UK (240 MW), Portugal (224 MW) and Italy (221 MW) installed during the year.
The European market for wind energy has experienced average annual growth rates of 20% over the past six years," stated Corin Millais of the EWEA. "However, the further rapid progress that the industry is capable of delivering is constrained by barriers such as grid access and administrative hurdles."
Future prospects for growth of wind power in Europe depends on creating sustained markets in countries on a scale similar to those in Germany and Spain, which had cumulative wind capacity of 16,629 MW and 8,263 MW, respectively, at the end 2004. The market for wind energy in most European countries is still largely undeveloped, but Italy and the Netherlands both passed the 1,000 MW threshold last year, indicating that important new European markets are emerging.
