Wind in numbers

• 5,500 The number of average EU households that one 6 MW offshore turbine can power.
• 8,000 The number of parts a wind turbine has.
• 59.6% On 6 November, 2011 at 2 am, 59.6% of Spain’s total power demand was supplied by wind power.
• 55% Of all the electricity used by South Australians on 5 September 2012 was generated by wind power.
• 16% The average amount of electricity demand met by wind in Spain.
• 39.4% The annual growth of Chinese wind market in 2011.
• 26% The average amount of electricity demand supplied by wind in Denmark. The Danish government aims to get 50% of its electricity from wind by 2025.
• 199,064 The number of wind turbines spinning around the world at the end of 2011.
• 45,894 The amount of wind turbines up and running in China at the end of 2011.
• 3 It takes a wind turbine 3-6 months to recoup the energy that goes into producing, operating and recycling the wind turbine after its 20 to 25 year lifetime.
• 1$ The amount of subsidies given to all renewable energy technologies, versus the $USD 6-7 in subsidies given to fossil fuels (see the International Energy Agency’s 2011 World Energy Outlook).
• 41 The number of GW of wind power installed in 2011, bringing the total installed global capacity to more than 238 GW at the end of 2011.
• 23,640 The number of new wind turbines erected across the world in 2011.
• 15 Wind turbine blades rotate between 15 and 20 times per minute.
• 2.5% The percentage of global electricity supplied by wind power.
• 8-12% The amount of global electricity that could be supplied by wind power in 2020.
• 10,000 A farmer from Iowa who uses one tenth of a hectare for a wind turbine could earn about $USD 10,000 per year, compared to about $USD 300 using the same area to grow corn for ethanol.
• 7.5 The most powerful wind turbine is a 7.5 MW turbine with a rotor diameter of 126 meters.
• 6 The largest offshore turbines are just over 6 MW with a rotor diameter of 126 metres – longer than a football field.
• 150 The largest turbine in the world is the new Alstom Haliade 6 MW turbine with a rotor diameter of 150.8 meters.
• 102 The amount of megawatts in the first large commercial offshore project outside of Europe - the Shanghai Donghai Bridge offshore project.
• 89% The number of EU citizens who are in favour of wind power, according to a 2011 poll.
• 2 A 10 MW wind farm can easily be built in two months. A larger 50 MW wind farm can be built in six months.
• 240,000 The number of people employed by the wind industry in the EU in 2011. This is a 30% increase from 2007 to 2010, despite EU unemployment which rose by 9.6%.
• 520,000 The amount of people expected to be employed by the wind power sector in 2020 in the EU. By 2030, the figure will be 794,079, with 62 % of jobs in the offshore sector.
• 670,000 The number of people employed worldwide by the wind industry in 2011.
• 583 The number of megawatts of wind power installed in Brazil in 2011 - Brazil has become a leader in the South American wind energy market, increasing its capacity over 90% from 2010 to a total of more than 1500 MW.
• 7 The number of wind bases in China aiming at reaching at least 10 GW: Inner Mongolia East, Inner Mongolia West, HeBei, Jiangsu, Jilin, Ganxu, XinJiang.
• 446,000,000,000 The number of kilowatt hours of wind energy produced worldwide in 2011.
• 84 In 2010, the 84 GW of wind power in the EU avoided the emission of 126 million tonnes (Mt) of CO₂, equivalent to taking 30% of EU cars (64 million vehicles) off the road.
• 17 Wind power farms generate between 17 and 39 times as much power as they consume, compared to 16 times for nuclear plants and 11 times for coal plants.
• 5,700,000,000 The EU exported 5.7 billion Euro worth of wind industry products and services in 2011.