The Globe and Mail
Developing countries in Asia and Africa are likely to see the biggest growth in wind power in the coming years, as falling costs and the need to fight smog makes the technology more attractive in those markets.
While China has already embraced wind power in a big way and will continue to grow rapidly, the industry is just taking off in Africa, according to an analysis of the worldwide market released Wednesday by the Global Wind Energy Council.
While energy security, the stability of wind power costs and job creation are factors that have pushed developing countries to install more wind turbines, “price, speed of deployment and fighting local air pollution have been the main drivers in most of the major growth markets,” the GWEC said in its report.
The GWEC is a trade association that represents companies involved in the wind industry.
In 2014, there was a 16-per-cent increase in the amount of wind power installed around the world, bringing the total to 370 gigawatts, enough to power more than 90 million homes.
