Wind power to triple in EU by 2020

The European Wind Energy Assn. released a report stating wind energy will account for almost 16% of energy consumption by 2020 as the EU looks to be more energy conscious.

August 8, 2011

The European Wind Energy Assn. published scenarios for onshore and offshore wind energy deployment in the European Union. The preliminary findings and reports suggest power output will be tripled by 2020.

Wind energy is expected to increased from 182 Terawatt hours (TWh) to 581 TWh by 2020. In terms of demand, the increase will rise from 5.5% of the total EU energy demand to 15.7% by 2020. This increase is due to increased investments in wind energy technology and a desire to reduce greenhouse gases and fossil fuels.

The report’s summary also states that the production coming from wind energy will be equivalent to the total electricity consumption by households in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom combined.

This report comes ahead of the European Commission’s Energy Roadmap 2050, which is to be published later this year.