Rising fossil fuel prices, devastating oil spills and the nuclear crisis in Fukushima have in 2011 substantially raised expectations of wind energy.
On the eve of Global Wind Day – June 15 – the wind industry can today reveal the globally avoided fuel costs from wind energy.
In 2015 wind power will avoid 23.7 billion Euros of fuel costs – made up of 15.1 billion Euros of avoided coal costs, 6.4 billion Euros of avoided gas costs and 1.7 billion Euros of avoided oil costs to produce electricity.
In 2020 wind power will avoid 87 billion Euros of fuel costs – made up of 46 billion Euros of avoided gas costs, 27 billion Euros of avoided coal costs, almost 10 billion Euros of avoided oil costs and 4 billion Euros of avoided biomass costs to produce electricity.
These figures are based on the International Energy Agency’s data on fuel costs (IEA World Energy Outlook 2010) and Global Wind Energy Council data (GWEC, 2011, Outlook 2010) on “moderate” development of wind power with 460 Gigawatt (GW) of global cumulative wind power capacity installed by 2015. The global trend for installed wind power capacity is impressive, from 60 GW in 2005, to 120 GW in 2008 to 200 GW in 2010.
Can wind power deliver?
Every month in 2009 and 2010, the global wind energy industry installed new wind energy capacity that can produce as much electricity as 1.2 average nuclear reactors.
Global Wind Day
On 15 June 2011, ‘Global Wind Day’, citizens from around the world can discover the power of wind energy.
There are events in countries all over the world from Argentina and Mexico to Australia and New Zealand, Japan, USA and Canada and most European countries.
Events include
• Wind farm open days in Japan, Australia, Germany, Italy, and many other countries
• Street stands and activities in cities in France, Bulgaria, Austria, Finland and many other countries
• Photo or art competitions in Mexico, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Poland and elsewhere
• Meetings of various kinds in Argentina, Uruguay, Ukraine, Romania and elsewhere
Other activities include
• A manufacturing plant tour in Canada
• Wind farm inaugurations in Belgium and elsewhere
• The opening of a major new exhibition on wind energy at the Technical Museum, Berlin, Germany
• A film screening in London, UK with TV personality Bill Oddie
• A proclamation by the Governor of Vermont
• Roundtable of industry leaders in New York for the unveiling of the new WindMadeTM Wind Energy Standard
Please see also the Global Wind Day website www.globalwindday.org
For more information contact:
Peter Sennekamp, EWEA
peter.sennekamp@ewea.org
+32 2 213 18 33
