World wind power capacity to reach 1,000 GW by 2020: GWEC

Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the international forum for wind energy sector, has projected the world's wind power generation capacity at 1,000 gigawatt (GW) by 2020, which is expected to scale further to 2,300 GW by 2030.

The latest 'Global Wind Energy Outlook 2010' released Tuesday in Beijing said wind power could play a key role in satisfying the world's increasing power demand, while at the same time achieving major greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Wind power could meet 12-per cent of global energy demand by 2020 and up to 22-per cent by 2030 in an ideal scenario, according to the study jointly conducted by GWEC and Greenpeace International.

GWEC secretary general Steve Sawyer says, ''Wind power can make a massive contribution to global electricity production and to decarbonising the power sector, but we need political commitment to make this happen.''

''Wind power technology provides governments with a viable option for truly tackling the challenges of our time and for being part of the energy revolution our planet needs,'' Sawyer further said.

It has been estimated that the 1,000 GW of installed capacity by 2020 would save up to 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually, which represents 50-75 per cent of the cumulative emissions reductions committed by industrialised nations. This would rise to 3.5 billion tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030, resulting in cumulative savings of approximately 35 billion tonnes of emissions by 2030.