European Offshore Wind Power Market Grew 54% in 2009

BRUSSELS, January 18 - In 2009, a total of eight new wind farms consisting of 199 offshore wind
turbines, with a combined power generating capacity of 577 MW, were connected
to the grid in Europe. This represents a growth rate of 54% compared to the
373 MW installed during 2008. For 2010, the European Wind Energy Association
(EWEA) expects the completion of 10 additional European offshore wind farms,
adding 1,000 MW and equivalent to market growth of 75% compared to 2009.

"This is an incredibly good result considering the continued difficulties
of obtaining project finance for large projects," said Christian Kjaer, EWEA
Chief Executive. "Independent project developers, in particular, are still
struggling. For the offshore wind power industry to continue its development,
it is vital that governments and the European Commission provide policy
frameworks that stimulate investor interest and allow project developers to
move their plans forward," said Kjaer.

Currently, 17 offshore wind farms are under construction in Europe,
totaling more than 3,500 MW, with just under half being constructed in UK
waters. In addition, a further 52 offshore wind farms have won full consent
in European waters, totaling more than 16,000 MW, with just over half of this
capacity planned in Germany.

In 2009, the turnover of the offshore wind industry was approximately
EUR1.5 billion, and EWEA expects this to double in 2010 to approximately EUR3
billion.

"The push given by the decision to inject EUR255 million under the
European Union's European Economic Recovery Plan into the offshore wind
sector showed that decision makers understand that offshore wind is key to
Europe's future energy supplies. The European Investment Bank's (EIB)
increased involvement will also be instrumental for the future success of
offshore wind's contribution to European recovery, job creation and
technology leadership," concluded EWEA's CEO.

More than 100 GW of projects are at various stages of planning and could
provide enough power to meet 10% of European electricity demand.

Europe is the world leader in offshore wind with 828 wind turbines and a
cumulative capacity of 2,056 MW spread across 38 offshore wind farms in nine
European countries. The UK and Denmark are the current leaders, with a 44%
and 30% share respectively. In 2009, five countries built new offshore wind
farms: UK (284 MW), Demark (230 MW), Sweden (30 MW), Germany (30 MW), Norway
(2.3 MW).

Please click here to download the pdf with the full analysis of the data:
www.ewea.org/fileadmin/emag/statistics/2009offshore/

For more information contact: Paolo Berrino, EWEA, paolo.berrino at ewea.org, +32-2-400-10-55