This increase follows the 20% increase the GWEC had reported for 2004.
GWEC attributed the strong increase in the wind energy sector to continuing political will for renewable energy, saying 48 countries around the world had created regulatory frameworks that encouraged renewables development.
However, AusWind reported that although the Australian market for wind energy had almost doubled in 2005 under the federal Mandatory Renewable Energy Target initiative, state based initiatives would shape Australia’s future renewable investments, as the Federal Government has refused to extend the MRET targets.
According to AusWind, Australia’s total installed capacity for wind energy was 10MW in 1999. During 2005, the Australian market installed another 328MW of new installed capacity, bringing the country’s total up to 708MW.
The organisation claims Australia’s total installed capacity represents around $A1.05 billion in capital expenditure.
The organisation has been closely following the Labor state governments and has lobbied for the adoption of state based renewable energy targets.
“The 2007 implementation of a state based market mechanism and a commitment by state governments to establish an emissions trading scheme will provide financial incentives to continue this growth,” said AusWind chief executive Dominique Lafontaine.
In response to the Victorian Government’s plans to institute its own renewable energy targets, AusWind advised that Australia would need to install around 600MW of wind energy to sustain the domestic industry, with a third of these new installations expected in Victoria, which currently generates more than 90% of its energy from brown coal.
AusWind also expressed concern that international investment in renewable energy projects was likely to move to other regions where regulatory frameworks were more supportive of renewables projects.
According to GWEC, the United States led the charge in terms of new installed capacity in 2005 with 2431MW, followed by Germany (1808MW), Spain (1764MW), India (1430MW), Portugal (500MW) and China (498MW).
The GWEC said these figures indicated that new markets in Portugal and China are gaining ground.
Australian wind energy companies have already expressed their willingness to do business in these regions in the absence of a supportive regulatory framework for the domestic industry.
Globally, the GWEC estimated that the market value of new generating equipment alone was $A19 billion in 2005.
