WORLD WIND ENERGY NET

This week the joint EWEA - Greenpeacereport "Wind Force 12" has been launched, which is a strategic blueprint that outlines how the wind industry, currently a 7 billion Euros sector, is able to grow to 75 billion Euros annually by 2020. The report details the feasibility for wind power to provide 12% of the global electricity demand by 2020. "Europe is not rich in oil, coal or gas, but we have huge wind resources and European companies are world leaders at converting it into energy. Wind power technology is the -;Microsoft of Europe' waiting to be unlocked", said Corin Millais, EWEA Chief Executive. The study demonstrates how by 2020, 1,231 GW of wind power can be installed, creating 1.79 million jobs, with an electricity cost reduction of 40% and with a cumulative saving of 10,921 million tonnes of Co2. By the end of 2002, wind power installed worldwide reached 32,000 MW, enough power to meet the electricity needs of 40 millions Europeans. Total installed wind power capacity grew 33% in the EU countries to 23,056 MW by December 2002. The electricity production fromthis is equivalent to burning 20 million tonnes of coal in a conventional power plant.

"The industry is capable of continuing its current success, especially given that only three countries - Germany, Spain and Denmark - have accounted for over 70% of the 2002 world market. In these three countries, thriving industries and tens of thousands of jobs have been created. These successes could be rapidly replicated in other countries; the sector is primed for expansion ", said Millais."With the Kyoto Protocol about to come into force, some governments have been quicker than others to recognize that we are moving towards a -;carbon-constrained' economy", said Steve Sawyer of Greenpeace. -;Wind energy is currently the most economically attractive renewable energy technology, and countries in a leadership position now will reap the benefits as others join the bandwagon.' In the foreword, EU Commissioner for the Environment Margot Wallstrom stated that "one of the tasks we are facing is a profound transformation of our energy system over the next few decades replacing fossil fuels with renewable energies and dramatically increasing energy efficiency. Wind Force 12 shows that wind energy is a critical part of the solution". She added that the report "should be the basis for a forward-looking policy."