Global New Wind Capacity Touched 60 GW in 2019: GWEC Report

More than 60 GW of wind energy capacity was installed globally last year, compelled by market-based mechanisms such as capacity auctions, a market outlook by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) revealed.

New installations totaled 60.4 GW, up 19 per cent from a year prior and the second biggest annual addition on record.

Overall, total wind energy capacity last year was more than 651 GW, up 17 per cent from 2018.

The main driver of the growth was market-based mechanisms, with auctioned wind capacity exceeding 40 GW globally, accounting for two-thirds of total new capacity, the report believed.

In 2019, China and the United States endured the world's largest onshore wind markets, together accounting for more than 60 per cent of new capacity.

GWEC forecasts that more than 355 GW of wind energy capacity added over the next five years, equivalent to 71 GW of wind energy added each year to the end of 2024.

"This forecast will certainly be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, due to disruptions to global supply chains and project execution in 2020," said Feng Zhao, strategy director at GWEC.

"Nevertheless, it is too soon to forecast the extent of the virus' impact on the wider global economy and energy markets," Zhao said.

GWEC said it will review its 2020-2024 forecasts in the light of the impact of coronavirus on the global economy and energy markets and issue an updated market outlook in the second quarter of this year.