About Wind Energy

The UK and Wind Energy

The UK is one of the windiest countries in Europe, with over a quarter of the total available wind resource. Wind is currently one of the most cost-effective and advanced renewable generation technologies available. The map below illustrates average wind speeds across Europe.

1 Source: Risoe (National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, Denmark)

The UK is not exploiting this tremendous wind resource. The graph below shows how Germany and Spain, which have lower wind speeds than the UK, have four to eight times more installed capacity. In 2008 China, often criticised for its lack of leadership in climate change, installed over seven times as much wind generating capacity as the UK. The UK desperately needs increase its utilisation of this natural resource.

The following graphs respectively show the top ten wind farm installing Countries in 2008, and the top ten wind cultivating Countries in 2008.

2 Source: Global Wind Energy Council (website 10 June 2009)