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www.sname.org/sname/mt WINDS OF CHANGE October 2012 BY JOHAN SANDBERG The transition to renewable energy sources is already taking place in Europe, as evidenced by the activ- ity of the last several years. In 2011, wind and solar power accounted for 68% of all new installed power capacity in Europe, and that in the middle of the worst economic climate in decades. Wind power alone accounted for 21.4% of the new installed capacity. It is hard to imagine wind power installations decreasing with an economic recovery. Even with the economic downturn, wind energy develop- ments have so far seen only a moderate slowdown in Europe. A mitigating factor, which has oered some buer, is the European Union (EU) renewable energy obligation requirements that set rm targets for 2020. Some European governments are recon- sidering (reducing) tari structures oered to renewables as a method for controlling government costs in these challenging economic times. e economic situation, combined with unstable incentive policy, also is having an impact in the United States. e year 2012 will see close to (and possibly exceeding) record onshore wind installation in the U.S., as the industry rushes to complete projects before the incen- tive policy ends in December. However, new installations in 2013 are expected to be close to record lows as the incentive plan is expected to lapse. Lack of long-term policy and regulatory certainty, combined with price pressure from natural gas fueled generation, makes the development environment more challenging for renewables in the U.S. In Asia, wind power developments are still experiencing explo- sive growth, mainly driven by China. The wind industry installed just over 41,000 MW of new wind power in 2011, a 6% increase over 2010. This brings the As the transition to renewable energy sources gathers pace in Europe, wind power should remain a prominent player despite challenges