Wind Resources & Electricity Demand
A number of scientific assessments brought together in this report have shown that the world’s wind resources are extremely large and well spread throughout six continents. The total available wind resource in the world today that is technically recoverable is 53,000 Terawatt hours per year – about four times bigger than the world’s entire electricity consumption in 1998.
The report makes clear that the world’s wind resources are unlikely to ever be a limiting factor in the utilisation of wind power for electricity production. Even with wind power generating 10% of the world’s electricity by 2020, this still leaves most of the resource untapped.
Development of offshore wind sites, expected to take off in Europe in the first years of the next century, contributes further potential for satisfying electricity demand.
In Europe, the combined wind resource both on land and out to sea will be enough to meet over 20% of the anticipated electricity demand in 2020. Improved technology and cheaper foundations could increase this figure significantly, especially from offshore schemes.
The electricity grid is perfectly capable of accepting large quantities of intermittent wind-powered electricity. In Denmark Government plans are for wind energy to account for 50% of electricity by 2030. Around the world, however, a safe assumption is that 20% is an appropriate average figure for the potential penetration of wind power into national grid systems.
The IEA predicts that the world will double its electricity consumption by 2020 under business as usual. Growing future demand for electricity means that wind power will need to generate about 2,500 - 3,000 Terawatt hours of electricity per year if it is to meet 10% of the world’s electricity demand within 20 years.