2008 has been a significant year for the wind energy industry. Once again, the forecast for future installations of wind power has been increased, as installations escalate. The Global wind energy installed capacity was 94 GW by the end of 2007 and it is estimated that it will reach 120 GW by the end of 2008. It has been doubling every three years during the last decade. The extraordinary growth in 2008 has been due to unexpected increases (estimated) of 7 GW in China and 7.5 GW in the USA.
The new Wind Power Report looks for the first time at the supply chain constraints in the electrical industry and specifically Tier 1, Tier 2 and Balance of System suppliers to the wind turbine manufacturers. Many countries have increased their targets for renewable energy during the year and countries without targets have set targets. The report surveys the market and industry developments up to the end of 2008 and projects forward to 2010.It contains data for all countries up to the end of 2007 but also more recent data for the leading countries either to mid 2008 or estimated for the end of 2008.