Africa installed nearly 1 GW of wind power for the first time in 2014 and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) expects the market to expand even faster in 2015, led by South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.

Speaking during the release of the ‘Global Wind Report: Annual Market Update’, GWEC secretary general Steve Sawyer said that Africa was poised to become the fastest-growing regional market in percentage terms, but stressed that further infrastructure investments would be needed if the continent hoped to accelerate its deployment of wind energy.

Sawyer cited South Africa, where infrastructure constraints had delayed the connection of wind and solar projects; he argued that investments in grids and mini-grids would be critical to accelerate the roll-out of renewable-energy across the continent.

The financial closure of bid-window-three projects under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme had faced material delays last year, while the preferred bidders for round four had not yet been declared, despite an indication that an announcement would be made during the first quarter of 2015. Bids were submitted on August 18, 2014.

Nevertheless, Sawyer said the South African market “took off” in 2014, with about 550 MW of wind power introduced.

The GWEC was expecting the South African market to grow by between 600 MW and 700 MW yearly, but Sawyer believed there was scope for even faster growth, owing to the need for near-term solutions to the country’s power crisis.

The report highlighted that growth in emerging markets had again outstripped that of traditional markets in 2014, led by China and Brazil, but supported by Mexico and South Africa.

China installed 23 GW of new wind power last year, increasing its cumulative total to more than 114 GW. Brazil, meanwhile, rose to become the world's fourth-largest wind market in 2014 and entered the cumulative-rankings top 10 for the first time.

Germany, Chile, Canada and Turkey also had record years, with the global annualised installed capacity growth rate rising 44% in 2014 to 51.4 GW, having fallen to 35.7 GW in 2013. The global cumulative installed wind capacity was estimated to be 369.6 GW at the end of 2014.

Sawyer expected the rate of growth to taper in the coming five years, but he still anticipated that the installed base would increase to more than 666 GW by 2019.

GWEC expected the market to top 50 GW again in 2015, and reach 60 GW a year by 2018. China would continue to lead growth, with the country on track to meet its 200 GW target well ahead of its 2020 deadline.