Germany will maintain its lead at the top of the European wind energy table in 2020 with a total installed capacity of up to 52,000MW, according to the latest figures calculated by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

Of that 52,000MW total, up to 42,000MW will be produced by onshore wind farms and up to 10,000MW will be powered by offshore wind turbines, EWEA’s Pure Power report finds.

“The domestic market has been very stable in recent years and will even rise again once the administrative hurdles such as height limits have been overcome and construction can continue”, the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) said.

By 2020, BWE envisages that wind power could meet a massive 25% of Germany’s electricity consumption.

However, BWE cautions that to reach this level a speedy expansion of the grid, using underground cables in some areas, is vital. Meanwhile, the overall electricity transport capacity of the grid needs to be improved with measures such as load flow management and high temperature conductors, BWE says.

Offshore wind farms are set to be part of wind power’s continued expansion in Germany. New rules agreed last year have finally made offshore wind financially viable, BWE says, but continued research is necessary into offshore wind.

A separate recently agreed law on laying the underground cables that connect offshore wind farms to the land was passed last year. This should “speed up installation projects,” BWE said.

By the end of 2008, Germany’s 20,301 turbines produced enough wind energy to meet 7.5% of the country’s net electricity consumption. Germany, along with Denmark and Spain, is considered as one of Europe’s wind power pioneers.

The wind energy sector employs around 100,000 people in Germany.

For more information on EWEA’s predictions for wind power expansion by 2020, click here to read the full Pure Power report.