More Wind Power Capacity Installed Last Year in the EU Than any Other Power Technology

BRUSSELS, February 3 - More new wind power capacity was installed in the EU in 2009
than any other electricity-generating technology, new statistics published
today by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) reveal. 39% of all new
capacity installed in 2009 was wind power, followed by gas (26%) and solar
photovoltaics (16%). Europe decommissioned more coal and nuclear
capacity than it installed in 2009. Taken together, renewable energy
technologies account for 61% of new power generating capacity in 2009.

Investment in new European wind farms in 2009 reached EUR13
billion, including EUR1.5 billion offshore. 10,163 MW of wind power capacity
was installed across the European Union - a 23% increase compared to 2008
installations - made up of 9,581 MW onshore (up 21% from last year) and 582
MW offshore (up 56% from last year).

2009 is the second year running that more wind power capacity
has been installed than any other electricity-generating technology, and
wind's share of newly installed capacity increased from 35% in 2008 to 39% in
2009. It is also the second year running that renewable energies have
accounted for the majority of new investments.

"It is a remarkable result in a difficult year" said Christian
Kjaer, CEO of EWEA. "The figures, once again, confirm that wind power,
together with other renewable energy technologies and a shift from coal to
gas, are delivering massive European carbon reductions, while creating much
needed economic activity and new jobs for Europe's citizens."

The countries with the biggest share of new capacity installed
in 2009 were Spain (24% - 2459 MW), followed by Germany (19% - 1917 MW),
Italy (11% - 1114 MW), France (11% - 1088 MW) and the UK (10% - 1077 MW).

Wind power's total capacity in the European Union has now
reached 74,767 MW, up from 64,719 MW by the end of 2008 with Germany
remaining the EU country with the largest installed capacity, followed by
Spain, Italy, France and the UK.

The wind capacity installed by the end of 2009 will in a
normal year produce 163 TWh of electricity, meeting 4.8% of total EU power
demand[1].

Commenting on prospects for 2010, Kjaer added: "I am quite
optimistic about the medium-term outlook for wind power in Europe, but
project finance is still tight and it is clear that more orders must be
announced in the coming months for the sector to repeat the 10 GW installed
this year."

Please click here to download the pdf with the full analysis
of the data.

www.ewea.org/fileadmin/emag/statistics/2009generalstats

Note to Editors:

EWEA is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting the
utilisation of wind power in Europe and worldwide. It now has over 600
members from almost 60 countries including manufacturers with a 90% share of
the world wind power market, plus component suppliers, research institutes,
national wind and renewables associations, developers, electricity providers,
finance and insurance companies and consultants.

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[1] According to the latest figure from Eurostat, final electricity
consumption in the EU-27 was 3,372 TWh in 2007.

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