These figures were presented by Steve Sawyer, Secretary, GWEC, at a press conference during the WindEnergy fair in Husum, Germany.

Sawyer explains that although the GWEC expects the US market to be down this year due to “low level of orders during the financial crisis work…stronger growth in China will make up for this, and the European market is very stable".

Overall, wind energy continues to be a growth market, he added, "weathering the economic crisis much better than some analysts had predicted.”

GWEC predicts that global wind power will double between 2010 and 2014, reaching more than 400 GW. This will be driven by continued growth in China, the US and Europe, as well as new countries entering the global wind market.

“Half of the growth is now happening in emerging economies and developing countries," explains Sawyer. "We are seeing very encouraging signs from countries in Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico and Chile, as well as Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa.”

GWEC will present its new edition of Global Wind Energy Outlook 2010 at the China Wind Power 2010 conference in October. This report will outline GWEC’s outlook for global wind power growth by illustrating three scenarios for the development of wind energy, showing how 1,000 GW of installed capacity could be operating worldwide by 2020, and as much as 2,300 GW by 2030.