Development from the Windicator
Fears of a dramatic decline in the wind market this year are not yet being borne out by the numbers. More than 2700 MW has been installed so far, only about 200 MW less than for the same period in 2003, a record wind year. With the industry's high season coming in the last three months of the year, it is too early to draw conclusions, but it appears that Germany is treading water and the dead US and Denmark markets are almost being made up for by increased activity elsewhere. Spain in particular is having a record year with big time projects -- a trend in large scale development also being seen in the new markets -- -- Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and offshore in Britain. India is scaling up too. The return of wind's federal production tax credit in the United States last month has come too late in the year for a major rally of the market before December 31, but a good handful of projects look set to try and make it under the wire. In 2005, the US promises to be an all-time world record breaker.