World wind power market forecast

BTM predicts that the cumulative global wind power capacity will increase at an average annual rate of 12.1% (including offshore wind power) during the 2014-2018 five-year period.

Other major data and trends include:

In 2014-2018, the annual global installed capacity increased from 36,134 MW in 2013 to 55,610 MW in 2018;

In 2014-2018, the global new installed capacity will increase at a rate of 9% each year;

In the year of 2014-2018, the global installed capacity was 250,067 MW;

In the year of 2014-2018, China will continue to maintain the top position of new capacity every year, followed by the United States;

In 2014-2018, the installed capacity of all continents was 48.2% in Asia, 27.4% in Europe, 18.8% in the Americas, and 5.6% in other countries.

In 2014, the global installed capacity of offshore wind power will be slower than expected in 2013, but it will still increase steadily. The major regions are Europe and the Far East;

During the three-year period from 2014-2016, the average annual new installed capacity in Europe could reach 12 GW, after which offshore wind power will be used to help European wind power installations grow at a faster rate. Germany and the United Kingdom are still the main wind market in Europe. Wind power installations in emerging markets such as Turkey, Romania, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Austria, etc. will continue to develop, although Romania and Poland may encounter policy uncertainties;

In 2014-2018, China will spend the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and move toward the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan". The problem of curtailment of wind curtailment will be solved in 2017 and 2018; China’s offshore wind power will fly into the sky;

The wind power market in India will continue to grow in 2014-2018. The specific growth rate depends on when the depreciation tax policy is re-introduced. This policy will support privately owned wind farms;

In 2014-2018, the United States remained the largest wind energy market in North America, followed by Canada. At the end of 2013, the United States continued the PTC/ITC policy (production credit/investment tax credit), which will cause the wind power capacity in the United States to rebound to 12.3 GW in 2014-2015. However, it still faces the problem of PTC policy uncertainty in the later period;

In 2014-2018, Brazil and Mexico will be the two major wind energy markets in Latin America. In the Americas region, Brazil will become the second largest wind energy market after the United States;

In 2014-2018, with the promotion of REIPP (Renewable Energy Independent Power Generation Project), South Africa will soon usher in the rapid development of wind power; North Africa will also witness growth in wind power capacity.

In general, BTM's optimism for the future wind energy market is based on merit. The wind energy market in China and India will continue to be strong. Despite the possibility of weaker wind power markets in the United States and Europe after 2016, it will be balanced by emerging markets in Latin America, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Africa. From the policy point of view, EU countries must fulfill their commitments to the EU renewable energy targets. This is an important basis for BTM to make optimistic forecasts for the future global wind energy market.