Engie S A : Wind Is Only Increasing in Power

The capacities of wind energy could quintuple worldwide by 2030, according to a new report from the Global Wind Energy Council, thanks in large parts to enormous development in new markets as Asia. The development of onshore wind power is one of ENGIE priorities.

A new report from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has shown that the capacities of wind energy could increase five-fold to represent 20 percent of worldwide electrical production by 2030, as compared to only 4 percent currently. This would create 2.4 million new jobs and reduce COemissions by more than 3.3 billion tons per year.

'Wind power is the most competitive option for adding new capacity to the grid in a growing number of markets,' said Steve Sawyer, GWEC Secretary General.

China: A Motor for Growth

China is one of the most impressive leaders in the wind industry today, installing more than 46 percent of the worldwide wind power for the year in 2015, almost as much as the total installed capacity of the three largest American wind-producing states.

Wind energy in China is slowly replacing coal energy, a cost-effective but unsustainable resource historically used in much of China. According to Harvard researchers, the winds in China, particularly in the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Gansu, and Tibet, are powerful enough to generate enough energy to eliminate 'much, if not all' of the power sector's future greenhouse gas emissions.

The next step for China will be the continued development of ways to integrate renewable energy resources into the national grid, making these resources more accessible nationwide. China's demand for electricity increases an estimated 10 percent per year, and the government has pledged to produce 15 percent of all electricity renewably by 2020.

ENGIE's Place in the Development of Wind Energy Worldwide

ENGIE has a strong global pipeline in onshore wind developments, including a huge repowering market opening up in Europe with the best wind sites coming to the end of their lifetimes. ENGIE has many onshore wind farms in operation around the world in Europe, UK, Africa, Latin américa, North America and Brazil.

Today, the total installed capacity of offshore wind is around 13.8 GW. The offshore wind market is expected to grow to more than 39 GW by 2020 and 100 GW by 2030. The majority of this capacity is being built in Europe, the industry is becoming more geographically dispersed with projects now under development in the Asian and U.S. markets.

ENGIE has experience in offshore wind farm development and de-risking of offshore and floating wind projects in Europe. In addition ENGIE Fabricom has already built and installed substations off the coast of Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Increasing Demand for Renewable Energy Globally

Demand for renewable energy won't stop here. According to International Energy Agency spokesman Jad Mouawad, projections for renewable energy are increasing substantially this year as compared to previous years, 'reflecting major evolutions' in energy policies worldwide. ENGIE vows to continue to be at the forefront of this change.