Chart of Wind Power Generation Capacity Globally 2005-2012
Posted on January 28, 2013 Comments (10)

Chart of installed wind energy capacity by country from 2005 to 2012 by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog using data from the Wind Energy Association. 2012 data is for the capacity on June 30, 2012. Chart may be used with attribution as specified.
Wind power generation capacity continues to grow faster than the increase in electricity use. The rate of growth has slowed a bit overall, though China’s growth continues to be large.
From 2005-2012 globally wind power generation capacity increased 330%; lead by China with an increase of 5,250%. Of the leading countries Germany grew the least – just 63%. The percent of global capacity of the 8 countries listed in the chart (the 8 countries with the highest capacity in 2012) has been amazingly consistent given the huge growth: from a low of 79% in 2006 to a high of 82.4% in 2011 (2012 was 82%).
Global growth in wind energy capacity was 66% in 2008-2010. In 2010 to 2012 the increase was 28%. The second period is just 18 months (since the 2012 data is for the first half of the year). Extending the current (2010-2012) rate to the end of 2012 would yield an increase of 37%, which still shows there has been a slowdown compared to the 66% rate in the previous 2 year period. The decrease in government subsidies and incentives is responsible for the slowing of added capacity, though obviously the growth is still strong.
From 2005 to 2012 China’s share of global wind energy capacity increased from 2% to 27%, the USA 15% to 20%, Germany fell from 31% to 12%, India fell from 7.5% to 6.8% (while growing capacity 292%).
Hydro power is by far the largest source of green electricity generation (approximately 5 times the capacity of wind power – but hydro capacity is growing very slowly). And installed solar electricity generation capacity is about 1/5 of wind power capacity.
Related: Global Wind Energy Capacity Exceeds 2.5% of Global Electricity Needs (2010) – Wind Power Capacity Up 170% Worldwide from 2005-2009 – Wind Power Provided Over 1% of Global Electricity in 2007
10 Responses to “Chart of Wind Power Generation Capacity Globally 2005-2012”
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February 6th, 2013 @ 2:10 am
China leads the world in a lot of things. The question i have in mind is why is the wind power generation capacity of China so high as compared to other countries in the list. Does it have anything to do with the overall wind power usage of China? What do they do with so much of energy?
February 7th, 2013 @ 5:15 am
Its pretty interesting that Ireland is going to start selling wind generated electricity to Britain. It just shows that green energy can be harnessed and exported like any other product.
February 13th, 2013 @ 11:00 pm
We can only hope that the growth of wind generated electricity begins to pick up again. I a sure the global economic slow down hampered progress. In the US many projects are be protested becuase people don’t like the impact on the landscape and the noise wind farms create.
February 15th, 2013 @ 9:27 am
China have a big problem with the air pollution. The factories are polluting China’s air. With this Wind Power usage the air pollution can decrease. It’s time to use Wind Power! We can generate and use clean power ๐
Sorry for my English.
February 26th, 2013 @ 8:39 am
Would definitely be nice to see green energy pick up a larger percentage of power use across the board. I’m not sure how cost effective wind really is as a power source, but it’s had a fantastic economic impact on the area where I grew up. Not to mention wind farms towering over rolling green fields is quite beautiful in the summertime.
June 18th, 2013 @ 11:32 am
Despite being German I am happy that we were overtaken by the US and China, because that means that large scale green energies are making their way in the biggest economies. And if you add the missing half of 2012 into the graph, growth is still very fast! that’s good news, even if it will cover only a fraction of the overall energy needs.
September 6th, 2013 @ 12:07 am
[…] Related: Global Wind Energy Capacity Exceeds 2.5% of Global Electricity Needs (2011) – Nuclear Power Generation by Country from 1985-2010 – Chart of Wind Power Generation Capacity Globally 2005 to 2012 (through June) […]
September 22nd, 2013 @ 1:51 pm
I am very glad being a Danish citizen and living in a country producing the windmills for allmost the whole world by the company Vestas. Danish engineering is making the world much greener every day, and I love to read such articles that reminds me of the effort we are doing to make the world a better place for all of us.
January 9th, 2014 @ 9:50 am
h-index Order: USA, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, Japan
January 22nd, 2017 @ 11:50 am
[…] The WindTree turns small breezes into electricity. Its production varies with the wind speed and its average output ranges between 1,500 kWh and 2,000 kWh. Peak power is 3,500 kWh. […]