North America
In 2008 the US was the number one market both in terms of new capacity and in terms of total wind generation capacity, and it broke all previous records with new installations of 8.5 GW, reaching a total installed capacity of over 25 GW.
The massive growth in the US wind market in 2008 increased the country’s total wind power generating capacity by half. The new wind projects completed in 2008 accounted for about 42% of the entire new power producing capacity added in the US last year, and created 35,000 new jobs, bringing the total employed in the sector up to 85,000.
At year’s end, however, financing for new projects and new orders for turbines and components slowed as the financial crisis began to hit the wind sector, taking a serious toll on financing available for new projects. This in turn is dampening orders for new turbines, with repercussions throughout the supply chain.
Looking ahead, in spite of the concerns about the financial crisis and its spillover into the real economy, the wind industry continues to be in a strong strategic position. All of the fundamental drivers behind its growth remain in place.
In 2008, the US Department of Energy released a ground-breaking report, finding that wind power could provide 20% of US electricity by 2030. With the wind energy industry’s strong performance in 2008 and the support of the new Obama Administration, the industry is in a position to turn this scenario into reality, or even surpass it.
Canada in 2008 surpassed the 2 GW mark for installed wind energy capacity, ending the year with 2.4 GW. Canada’s wind farms now produce enough power to meet almost 1% of Canada’s total electricity demand.
2008 was Canada’s second best ever year for new wind energy installations with ten new wind farms coming online, representing 526 MW of installed wind energy capacity. Included in this total were the first wind farms in the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador. In British Columbia, the only Canadian province without a wind farm, construction began on the first wind farm with completion expected in early 2009.