renewables – Made in Germany

global installed capacity (MW)
250,000
200,000
150,000
100,000
50,000
0
59,091
global installed capacity
newly installed capacity
11,531 15,245
74,052
19,866
93,820
26,560
120,291
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Currently, most of the world’s turbines are
installed on land. In future, their numbers will continue
to grow mainly on land, both in Europe and
worldwide. But the development of offshore wind
farms will become more important over the next few
years. Much experience with offshore �p 10 projects
has also already been gained in over 30 offshore wind
farms built off the coasts of Great Britain, Denmark,
Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany. Given
the consistent wind conditions and higher average
wind speeds at sea, the expected energy yields are up
to 35 % higher than those on land. The German government
has forecast an installed capacity of up to
25 GW by 2030, so German maritime wind farms could
meet up to 15 % of the country’s power requirements
in the long term. Construction of the first commercial
offshore wind farms ‘Baltic 1’ in the Baltic Sea and
‘Bard Offshore 1’ in the North Sea in 2010 was a major
milestone in the development of offshore wind
energy use.
One of the main challenges for offshore systems is
the strong dependence on weather conditions during
construction. The main construction phase is limited
to a period between April and November and is very
dependent on wave heights and wind speeds. These
incalculable parameters can significantly impact the
overall cost of a project. During operation, salty air
also makes heavy demands on the materials used. The
multi-megawatt turbines and components used in offshore
areas were for the most part developed, manufactured
and tested in small series on land in Germany.
38,610 35,802
158,738
194,390
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
g Global installed capacity (MW) / newly installed capacity 2005 – 2010 (MW).
f Capacité installée au niveau mondial (MW) / nouvelle capacité installée 2005 – 2010 (MW).
e Capacidad instalada a nivel mundial (MW) / nueva capacidad instalada 2005 – 2010 (MW).
0
newly installed capacity (MW)
Source: GWEC Global Wind Statistics 2010
The use of small wind energy turbines (small wind
turbines) is also becoming more important. Small
wind turbines are defined by the international IEC
61400-2:2006 standard (‘Design requirements for
small wind turbines’), which describes small wind
energy turbines as those with a rotor sweep area of
less than 200 square metres at 350 W/m 2 , providing a
maximum output of 70 kW. Their towers are usually
not higher than 20 metres. Most turbines currently on
the market generate outputs in the 5 to 10 kW range.
Small wind turbines are especially suitable for providing
a basic supply of electricity in regions far from
power grids.
Market development
In 2010, the total power output generated using
wind energy worldwide increased by 22 % to
194,390 MW �p 11. The total number of turbines
installed worldwide by the end of 2010 generates
425 terawatt hours (TWh) annually, which is 2.5 %
of worldwide electricity demand.
Due to the investment backlog caused by the global
financial crisis, there was a significant slump on
the world market for new wind turbines in 2010. At a
total of 35,802 MW, around 7 % less were built than in
2009 (38,610 MW). In many countries the construction
volume of new turbines decreased from 2009 to 2010.
The most significant cutbacks were reported in the
USA (-48 %), Spain (-37 %) and Germany (-19 %), which,
with a total of 27,214 MW of installed power, is ranked
third worldwide. The largest growth volume was
11