Romania ranks 7th in EU by growth of installed wind farm capacity for 2010

Romania posted the seventh growth in installed wind power capacity among the European Union member states in 2010, namely a 448-megawatt increase to a total of 462 MW, according to a report of the European wind energy association EWEA. Only 1.6 percent of Romania's electricity comes from wind farms, much lower compared with Denmark, whose wind power capacity provides 24 percent of the total energy production. About 14 percent of electricity in Spain and Portugal comes from wind farms, while around 10 percent of Ireland's and Germany's production is from wind power projects. In terms of annual installations, Spain was the largest market in 2010, with 1,516 MW newly-installed, followed by Germany's 1,493 MW. France was the only other country to install over 1 GW (1,086 MW), followed by the UK (962 MW), Italy (948 MW), Sweden (604 MW), Romania (437 MW), Poland (382 MW), Belgium (350 MW), Portugal (345 MW) and Denmark (327 MW), EWEA said. The rest of the EU member states posted a total installed wind power capacity of 800 MW in 2010. Germany has the highest wind farm production capacity in the EU, of 27,214 MW, according to 2010 data, followed by Spain, with 20,676 MW, Italy--5,797 MW and France--5,660 MW. Mediafax