Wind energy penetration: country comparison 2018

There are a few countries around the world who have encouraged the penetration of wind energy into their electrical grids. For example, wind penetration in Denmark exceeded 40 percent, while wind generation in Ireland, Germany, and Portugal reached between 20 to 30 percent of their total electricity generation in 2018. Wind energy penetration reached only about 6.5 percent in comparison, although the United States has installed the most wind power in the world, second only to China.

Global wind technologies

Cumulatively, there has been about 597 gigawatts of wind power capacity installed around the world. The installed wind energy capacity is expected to continue to increase in the near future as the levelized cost of electricity from wind technologies decreases. The majority of wind energy installations is land-based (onshore), while the rest are offshore installations. Onshore wind transmission and distribution infrastructure tends to be less expensive and is one of the most competitive renewable technologies on the market. Offshore wind is still a budding technology in comparison to the well-established onshore technologies. However, offshore wind tends to be more efficient due to more consistent wind speeds and directions.