Wind to get a boost on power grid
Wind to get a boost on power grid
By Rod Myer
June 27, 2005
Australia's wind energy sector is expected to grow fivefold in the next four years to total 2100 megawatts of installed capacity.
US wind capacity is expected to grow threefold to 18,000 megawatts and in Europe capacity will double to 74,000 megawatts over the same period, according to investment bank Babcock & Brown.
Wind energy now accounts for only 0.57 per cent of total world electricity supply but is expected to grow to 2.4 per cent by 2014.
Europe has been the largest enthusiast for wind energy with 34,000 megawatts of installed capacity, which amounts to 70 per cent of the global total. However, most of the installed capacity in Europe is in four countries, Germany, Spain and Denmark and Britain.
Some European countries have very little wind power. France for example, with 386 megawatts, has less capacity installed than Australia.
However, France is aiming to develop 10,000 megawatts of capacity in five years and the European Union is pushing the cause of renewable energy. It has mandated that 22 per cent of electricity generated be from renewable sources by 2010.
Much of this target, if met, will be made up of wind power as it is considerably cheaper than technologies such as solar. Wind energy, which can be provided for about $80 a megawatt hour, is still over double the price of coal-fired generation in Australia and relies on government subsidies and mandates to survive.
