The European wind energy industry had a record volume of 6,183 MW of new installations in 2005, which allowed the European Union to increase its total wind capacity by 18% and exceed, five years earlier, the target set for 2010, of 40,000 MW.

In the last 12 months, wind capacity in the EU rose from 34,372 MW in 2004 to 40,504 MW at the end of 2005, an increase that is reflected in the increase of some 6,000 million euros in revenues from the sector, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA, Spain) said in a statement today. in English).

The 40,504 MW installed in Europe will normally produce about 83 TWh of electricity, which represents 2.8% of the total energy consumed by the Twenty-Five in 2004, according to EWEA.

Between 1995 and 2005, the EU’s total wind capacity has grown by an average of 32% per year, while the number of new installations in its territory rose by an average of 22% in the same period, despite a reduction of more than 500 MW in the productions of Spain and Germany combined.

However, Spain was the second largest producer of wind energy in the EU in 2005 (1,764 MW), after Germany (1,808 MW).

The two countries are also the only ones with more than 10,000 MW of total installed capacity – 18,428 MW in Germany and 10,027 in Spain.