Brussels, 02/08/2011 (Agence Europe) - In its scenarios for onshore and offshore wind power deployment in the EU, published ahead of the energy roadmap 2050 to be published by the Commission later this year, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) predicts wind energy will more than triple its power output by 2020, with €194 billion invested in European onshore and offshore wind farms in this decade, to supply 15.7% of total EU electricity demand (compared to 5.5% in 2010). According to EWEA, the production of wind power electricity generation will then be equal to the total amount of electricity consumed by households in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom together. By 2030, 1.154 TWh (28% of total demand) would be produced by wind power.
Entitled “Pure Power”, the EWEA report nonetheless places emphasis on the fact that the various member states will have very different increases in wind power capacity during the decade 2010-2020. If, taking the EU as a whole, wind power must be increased by 2.7% to supply 16% of European demand, then electricity generation from wind power should be multiplied by: 1.8 in Germany (to reach 17% of national demand), 3.5 in Austria (10%), 4.3 in Belgium (10%), 8 in Bulgaria (18%), 3.6 in Cyprus (12%), 1.6 in Denmark (38%), 1.9 in Spain (27%), 3.4 in Estonia (11%), 9.6 in Finland (5ù), 4 in France (11%), 5.4 in Greece (23%), 3 in Hungary (4%), 4.2 in Ireland (52%), 2.7 in Italy (9%), 6.4 in Latvia (5%), 6.5 in Lithuania (18%), 7.1 in Luxembourg (7%), 4.2 in the Netherlands (20%), 9.5 in Poland (14%), 1.9 in Portugal (28%), 7.4 in Czech Republic (4%), 6.5 in Romania (10%), 266 in Slovakia (5%), 4 in Sweden (15%), and 5 in the United Kingdom (19%). Non-existent in Malta and Slovenia, wind power electricity should reach 100 and 500 MW in each of these countries to cover 8% and 6% of demand respectively. (E.H./transl.jl)