U.S. Maintains Top Spot For Wind Capacity
While the United States still holds the number one spot for the highest total capacity of wind power in the world, China made some impressive advancements in 2009. The country had the top spot for the most new installations and doubled it’s capacity from 12.1 gigawatts to over 25 gigawatts.
Globally, wind power capacity increased 31 percent moving from 37.5 gigawatts up to 157.9 for the year. Almost 10 gigawatts of wind power was installed in the United States increasing the countries total capacity by 39 percent at 35 gigawatts.
According to the wind energy council, the market for turbine installations around the world reached $63 million in 2009. The council also estimated that around half a million people are now employed globally in the wind energy industry.