04 Jan 2021 | 12:12 UTC — London

European 2020 wind generation up 7% at 418 TWh despite 9% drop in Dec

Highlights

December's 43 TWh some 4 TWh below Dec 2019: WindEurope

2020 averaged 47.6 GW, up 3 GW on 28 TWh in 2019

GB, Spain, Poland reported wind records in Dec

London — European wind power generation in 2020 rose 7% year on year to 417.9 TWh, data aggregated by WindEurope showed Jan. 4.

This was despite a calm end to the year, with output for the week ending Jan. 3 down 32% week on week.

December output totaled 43 TWh, which was 4 TWh below a record December 2019, but Q4 2020 output rose 2% year on year to 120.7 TWh.

Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Belgium reported new record peaks in December with Storm Bella pushing wind's share in European power demand to 31% on Dec. 27, and daily production of 2.4 TWh the highest since February, the WindEurope data show.

By contrast, wind only covered 9% of demand on Dec. 9 amid a cold and calm spell of weather across much of Europe.

The swings in wind caused large fluctuations in daily electricity prices from near two-year highs to negative hourly prices now spreading beyond Germany.

Wind was forecast to dip for the start of 2021 as another cold snap boosted demand.

A forecast by spotrenewables.com saw German wind at a below average 9 GW for the week ending Jan. 10, with daily levels falling from 18 GW Jan. 4 to 1.7 GW by Jan. 9.

WindEurope's estimated 14 GW new capacity coming online 2020 would push Europe's total installed wind capacity to around 220 GW.

EUROPEAN WINTER WIND GENERATION (GW, average)

2019/20
2020/21
Oct
44.6
55
Nov
52.5
51
Dec
63.4
57.9
Jan
63.3
Feb
78
Mar
56.3

Source: WindEurope

ANNUAL EUROPEAN WIND GENERATION

Average (GW)
Total (TWh)
2018
41.3
362
2019
44.6
390.5
2020
47.6
417.9

Source: WindEurope