Pacific
After several years of stagnation in Australia’s wind market, the speed of development picked up again in 2008, with 482 MW of new installations, a 58% leap in terms of total installed capacity.
Australia is now home to 50 wind farms, with a total capacity of 1.3 GW. Seven additional projects totalling 613 MW are currently under construction and expected to become operational in 2009. At the end of 2008, Australia’s new labour government expanded the country’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) from 2% by 2010 to 20% by 2020.
New Zealand's installed capacity grew by only 3.5 MW in 2008 to reach 325 MW. However, this does not adequately reflect the wind industry's activity over the year, and a further 187 MW are currently under construction.