Europe wind energy sector grows 40 pct yr/yr-study

Installed capacity rose 40 percent to 20,447 megawatts (MW) from 14,652 MW between October 2001 and October 2002 in the 21 countries included in the study, Brussels-based EWEA said in a statement. It said Europe accounted for 74 percent of world growth in the first nine months of 2002 and that capacity on the energy-hungry continent could rise to 100,000 MW by 2010. \"This European success story for wind energy is just the beginning. The value of the market could rise to 58 billion euros from 20 billion if the appropriate policies are put in place,\" EWEA Chief Executive Corin Millais told Reuters. Germany was the leading country with 10,650 MW of installed wind capacity by October 2002, or half of Europe\'s wind energy, and Spain was number two with 4,079 MW, according to the study. The study also showed the value of the global wind industry could rise to 130 billion euros by 2010 from a current level of 25 billion euros, corresponding to nearly tenfold rise in capacity to 230,000 MW from a current level of 27,000 MW. The European sector is set to benefit from a European Union target to take 22 percent of its electricity from renewable energy such as wind, solar, and biomass power. The target is part of a move to meet a United Nations agreement, the Kyoto protocol, to reduce the amount of polluting greenhouse gases emitted by developed countries by 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2008-2012. Greenhouse gases are produced by burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal and are widely blamed for contributing to global warming. REUTERS NEWS SERVICE