Global Wind Day is a worldwide event organized by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and WindEurope that celebrates the success of wind energy.

On June 15, 2018 we joined the wind industry and its supporters around the world in celebrating Global Wind Day. There are many reasons to celebrate wind energy and this year’s event spotlighted positive local impacts of wind energy.

Check out this CanWEA blog about the advances the wind energy industry has achieved, worldwide and in Canada: Reasons to celebrate Global Wind Day.

Check out the GWEC photo competition site to find out more about the contest, and to view both the winning photos and the top picks.

Photo Contest

To help celebrate the amazing growth of wind energy around the world, the Global Wind Energy Council hosts a Global Wind Day photo competition that allows members of the public to participate in the wind energy success story by submitting their best wind energy photos. The photo competition offers major cash prizes to participants.

The theme of the 2018 photo competition is Wind Vision, and aims to draw the attention of the public and policymakers to the power wind energy holds to alleviate many social, economic and environmental challenges.

CanWEA is proud to be a member of the jury that selects the winning photos.

To find out more about the contest, how to submit your photos, the submission deadline, competition updates – and to view winning photos – check out the GWEC photo competition site.

Wind Energy from a Global Perspective

Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing energy forms, and one of the lowest-cost ways to generate electricity around the world. The Global Wind Energy Council is a great resource for understanding just how important wind energy is becoming for so many countries. For example, did you know that:

• More than 52 gigawatts of wind energy capacity was installed worldwide in 2017, bringing the total installed global capacity to 539 gigawatts at the end of 2017.
• GWEC expects to see wind’s total electricity generating capacity rise to 840 gigawatts by 2022.
• In 2016, wind power avoided over 637 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions globally, helping reduce worldwide emissions that contribute to climate change.
• The global wind energy industry created 1,155,000 jobs by the end of 2016.
• There were 341,320 wind turbines installed around the world at the end of 2016, with 104,934 of those turbines operating in China, and 52,343 in the U.S.
• Worldwide, US $107 billion was invested in new wind power in 2017, making it one of the fastest growing industrial segments in the world.

To see how Canada stacks up, visit CanWEA’s Wind Market pages.

Photo courtesy of GWEC. 2017 Wind and Nature GWEC Photo Contest Winner. A unique, first-of-its-kind 73.2 MW wind farm on a small and uninhabited Greek island called Agios Georgios. Agios Georgios is the only onshore wind farm with offshore characteristics to be ever built across the globe. 25 nautical miles of submarine cables were needed in order to connect the wind park to Athens’ electricity grid. In the middle of the vast Aegean Sea, Agios Georgios wind farm produces clean energy for the increasingly demanding Attica region. By Mario Zangas. Greece.