Jul 13 2010
In a study conducted by Frost and Sullivan titled Investment Opportunities in the Wind Energy Sector in Europe the company states that Sweden, a Scandinavian powerhouse, is most likely to develop as the premier market in Western Europe for producing wind energy.
Three factors—immense wind resources, a large geographical area and a relatively diminutive population—contribute to its attractiveness as a market. The outsized area will help Sweden to be in a position to install numerous wind farms, which sequentially generate wind energy that outstrip local needs leading to the export of electricity. This will earn the country more revenue as well as help the countries who are unable to generate enough electricity for their requirements and meet the growing needs of the future.
Despite the abridged achievement of the support system (responsible for the green certificate and the quota obligation system) when compared with the feed-in-tariff system, the installed offshore and onshore wind capacity doubled both in 2007 and 2008. In early 2009, 10 onshore projects were under construction and 18 more had received permits.
Frost and Sullivan’s green energy group says that in 2008 power produced from wind energy from both offshore and onshore operations will increase from 2.3TWh (with 1GW capacity) to 24.5–29.1TWh (with 9-11GW capacity). Offshore systems will generate 2-3 GW of the total energy.
The Swedish Wind Energy Association estimates the potential of wind energy in Sweden to be about 540TWh per year.