Brussels (Platts)--11Feb2013/550 am EST/1050 GMT

Europe installed 12.4 GW of wind capacity in 2012, bringing total capacity across the continent to 109 GW at the end of last year, up 12% on the end of 2011, the Global Wind Energy Council said Monday.

"European markets, led by Germany and the UK, with surprising contributions from 'emerging markets' in Sweden, Romania, Italy and Poland, accounted for 12.4 GW last year, a new record," GWEC said in its 2012 market statistics report.

"However, ongoing sovereign debt crises mean that the outlook for the 2013 market is uncertain, although Europe's framework legislation and its 2020 targets ensure a degree of stability," it added.

The 27 EU countries together installed 11.6 GW wind capacity in 2012, bringing the total at end-2012 to 105.7 GW, also up 12% on end-2011.

Germany installed 2.4 GW in 2012, bringing the end-2012 total to 31.3 GW, up 8% on end-2011. Germany has the most installed wind capacity in Europe, followed by Spain with 22.8 GW at end-2012, the GWEC statistics show.

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The UK installed 1.9 GW, bringing the end-2012 total to 8.4 GW -- the third highest in Europe and up 27% on end-2011.

Italy is fourth, adding 1.3 GW in 2012 to bring its total to 8.1 GW.

Romania added 923 MW, almost doubling its total to 1.9 GW at end-2012, GWEC said.

Poland added 880 MW, bringing its total to 2.5 GW at end-2012, up 56% on end-2011.

Sweden added 846 MW, bringing its total to 3.7 GW at end-2012, up 28% on end-2011, GWEC said.

Europe also continued to lead offshore markets, with 1.2 GW installed in 2012, more than 90% of total offshore installations of 1.3 GW globally, GWEC said.

The UK dominated, installing 854 MW of offshore wind in 2012, bringing its total at end-2012 to 2.9 GW, the highest globally. Denmark is next with 921 MW installed offshore at end-2012.

The EU has a binding target to source 20% of its energy demand from renewables by 2020.

--Siobhan Hall, siobhan_hall@platts.com
--Edited by Alisdair Bowles, alisdair_bowles@platts.com

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