Recently, REN21 released the 2018 "Global Renewable Energy Status Report" (GSR). The "Report" is the most comprehensive annual summary of the global renewable energy development. According to the "Report", the global installed capacity of renewable energy reached 178GW in 2017, of which the newly installed capacity of wind power reached 52GW, and the cumulative installed capacity was 539GW. Wind power is rapidly becoming a mature and cost-competitive technology.

1. Global new installed capacity of wind power in 2017

The International Energy Network/Wind Power Headline reporter learned from the report that the newly installed capacity of global wind power reached 52GW in 2017, and the cumulative installed capacity reached 539GW. Asia has become the largest wind power market for nine consecutive years, with new installed capacity accounting for nearly 48% of the world's total. As of the end of 2017, the cumulative wind power installed capacity exceeded 235GW; followed by Europe (over 30%), and North America (14%) ranked third. Latin America and the Caribbean (nearly 6%).

China's new installed wind power capacity has declined for two consecutive years. In 2017, the new installed capacity of wind power was 19.7GW, and the cumulative installed capacity was about 188.4GW. The main provinces with more new wind power installed capacity are Shandong 2.2GW, Henan 1.3GW and Shaanxi 1.1GW.

The International Energy Network/Wind Power Headline reporter found that in the 2017 global ranking of new wind power installed capacity, China still maintains a leading position with a market share of 37%, and the United States (13%), Germany (12%), and the United Kingdom (8%) India and India (8%) are far behind China. The other top ten countries include Brazil (4%), France (3%), Turkey (1%), South Africa (1%) and Finland (1%). .

2. Newly installed wind power in Asian countries

Due to the impact of the business cycle, Turkey's newly installed wind power capacity was nearly 0.8GW in 2017, about half of 2016, but it still ranks among the top 10 in the world, with a cumulative installed capacity of nearly 6.9GW. Pakistan and Japan have installed nearly 0.2GW of new wind power, followed by South Korea with 0.1GW. Mongolia, Vietnam and Thailand have relatively small new installed wind power.

3. Newly installed wind power in EU countries

The new installed capacity of wind power in the EU is about 15.6GW, an increase of 25% over 2016, a record high, with a cumulative installed capacity of 168.7GW, of which onshore wind power is 153GW and offshore wind power is 15.8GW. In 2017, the new installed capacity of wind power in the EU accounted for 55% of the total new installed capacity of renewable energy, and its power generation accounted for 18% of the EU's total power generation (12% in 2012). As of the end of 2017, 16 member states had more than 1 GW of power generation, and 9 member states had more than 5 GW of power generation. In 2017, EU wind power generation increased by 12% compared to 2016.

In 2017, six EU countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium (0.5GW), Ireland (0.4GW) and Croatia (0.1GW) set new records for new wind power installations. Finland (0.5GW) is also one of the top countries in the European Union. The total installed capacity of wind power in the top three countries accounted for 80% of the total.

Germany has once again become the third largest market for wind power in the world, with newly installed wind power reaching 6.6GW and cumulative installed capacity reaching 56.1GW (onshore wind power 50.8GW, offshore wind power 5.4GW). Wind power generation has increased by 33% relative to 2016 and accounted for nearly 19% of Germany's total net power generation in 2017. The new installed capacity of wind power in the United Kingdom reached 4.3 GW (onshore wind power was nearly 2.6GW, and offshore wind power was nearly 1.7GW), and the cumulative installed capacity increased by 29% to 189GW; the new installed capacity of wind power in France reached 1.7GW, and the cumulative installed capacity was nearly 13.8GW; The new installed capacity of wind power in Norway reached a record 0.3GW.

In 2017, wind power generation accounted for approximately 11.6% of EU's annual electricity consumption. At least 13 countries (including Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Uruguay) account for more than 10% of wind power generation. Uruguay’s share of wind power generation has more than quadrupled in just three years, from 6.2% in 2014 to 26.3% in 2017, and Nicaragua’s wind power generation accounted for more than 15%. From a global perspective, as of the end of 2017, wind power generation accounted for 5.6% of the total power generation.

4. Newly installed wind power in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean

In 2017, the newly installed capacity of wind power in Texas in the United States reached 2.3 GW, and the cumulative installed capacity reached 22.6 GW; the total installed capacity of wind power in Canada (12.2 GW) ranked among the top ten in the world, of which Ontario continued to lead, followed by Quebec , And Prince Edward Island has the highest penetration rate of wind energy (29%).

Brazil continues to rank among the top 10 in the world. In 2017, the newly installed wind power capacity was about 2GW, and the cumulative installed capacity was nearly 12.8GW. In 2017, wind power generation accounted for 7.4% of Brazil's total power generation (5.9% in 2016).

Mexico’s new installed capacity of wind power is 0.5GW, and the cumulative installed capacity is 4GW; followed by Uruguay (newly installed wind power is 0.3GW); Chile’s new installed capacity is 0.1GW; Costa Rica’s new installed capacity is 59MW; South Africa’s new installed capacity is wind power 0.6GW, with a cumulative installed capacity of 2.1GW; Australia’s newly installed wind power capacity is 0.6GW, with a cumulative installed capacity of approximately 4.6GW.

The newly installed wind power capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean is approximately 3.1GW (a decrease of nearly 13% from 2016).

V. Global offshore wind power newly installed capacity in 2017

In 2017, nine countries around the world increased the scale of offshore wind power projects, adding 4.3GW in total, increasing the cumulative global offshore wind power installed capacity by 30% to 18.8GW, accounting for 3.4% of the global cumulative wind power installed capacity. The top countries in terms of global offshore wind power installed capacity are the United Kingdom (1.7GW), Germany (1.2GW), China (1.2GW) and Belgium (0.2GW). In 2017, the newly installed capacity of offshore wind power in Europe reached a record 3.1GW, and the cumulative installed capacity reached 15.8GW; the newly installed capacity of offshore wind power in Germany increased by nearly one-third; Finland developed its first commercial offshore wind power project; The world's first offshore wind farm (5MW) built in Denmark was decommissioned; the world's first commercial floating wind farm (30MW) in Scotland was decommissioned last October.

As of the end of 2017, the United Kingdom maintained its lead in cumulative wind power installed capacity at 6.8GW, followed by Germany with 5.4GW, China with 2.8GW, Denmark with 1.3GW and the Netherlands with 1.1GW. In other parts of Asia, the newly installed capacity of offshore wind power in Taipei, China is 8MW and that in Japan is 5MW.