Fraunhofer IWES has issued its annual report on wind energy “ Wind Energy Report Germany 2014 “, which has shown that the wind energy is on the rise, both globally and in Germany.
Worldwide, 2014 saw over 51 GW of installed wind capacity, and global power consumption already comprises 3% of wind energy. In Germany, after a record construction of new 5,188 MW, wind energy covers 9.7% of total electricity needs.
Offshore wind capacity doubled compared to 2013, Fraunhofer IWES found. Offshore, 141 turbines with a total of 523 MW were put into operation at DanTysk, Meerwind Süd/Ost, Nordsee Ost and Riffgat (partially) offshore wind farms, thus at the end of 2014 a total of 1,044 MW was installed in German waters.
Additional 286 wind turbines with a total capacity of 1,269 MW were installed, but were not connected to the grid by the end of 2014.
Worldwide, a total of 2,693 offshore wind turbines were connected with an output of 8,493 MW in 104 offshore wind farms.
Image: Fraunhofer IWES