Depending on the efficiency measures implemented, by 2030 world energy needs are predicated to be between 30 and 60% higher than current levels. The IEA estimates that around 4,500 GW of new energy capacity needs to be installed before 2030, requiring investments of more than US$ 13 trillion.

This sharp increase in world energy demand will require significant investment in new power generating capacity and grid infrastructure, especially emerging economies such as India and China.

Industrialised countries face a different but parallel situation. While demand is increasing, the days of overcapacity in electricity production are coming to an end. Many older power plants will soon reach the end of their working lives. The IEA predicts that by 2030, over 1,600 GW of power generation capacity will need to be built in the OECD countries alone, including the replacement of retiring plants.

Just as energy demand continues to increase, supplies of the main fossil fuels used in power generation are becoming more expensive and more difficult to extract. One result is that some of the major economies of the world are increasingly relying on imported fuel at unpredictable cost, sometimes from regions of the world where conflict and political instability threaten the security of that supply.

In contrast to the uncertainties surrounding supplies of conventional fuels, and volatile prices, wind energy is a massive indigenous power source which is permanently available in virtually every country in the world. There are no fuel costs, no geo-political risk and no supply dependence on imported fuels from politically unstable regions.

Every kilowatt/hour generated by wind power has the potential to displace fossil fuel imports, improving both security of supply and the national balance of payments, which is not only an issue for the United States which sends more than half a trillion dollars a year out of the country to pay its oil bill. This is an even larger issue for poor countries in Africa, Asia and South America whose economies have been devastated by recent oil price hikes.

Wind power also has the advantage that it can be deployed faster than other energy supply technologies. Even large offshore wind farms, which require a greater level of infrastructure and grid network connection, can be installed from start to finish in less than two years. This compares with the much longer timescale for conventional power stations such as nuclear reactors.