The global cumulative wind power capacity is expected to grow  from 319.6 GW in 2013 to 678.5 GW by 2020, says research and consulting firm GlobalData. This despite an overall slump in installations in 2013.

The report, "Wind Power Update, 2014," confirmed that China remains the largest single wind power market. The country  is expected to have a cumulative wind capacity of 239.7 GW by 2020, according to GlobalData. If you recall, China overtook the US as the leading market for installations in 2010, when it added a massive 18.9 GW of wind capacity.

“China doubled its cumulative wind capacity every year from 2006 to 2009, and has continued to grow significantly since then," said Harshavardhan Reddy Nagatham, GlobalData’s analyst covering alternative energy. "Supportive government policies, such as an attractive concessional program and the availability of low-cost financing from banks, have been fundamental to China’s success."

While China will continue to be the largest global wind power market through to 2020, growth for the forecast period will be slow due to a large installation base, Nagathan adds. The report also states that the US will remain the second largest global wind power market in terms of cumulative installed capacity, increasing from 68.9 GW in 2014 to 104.1 GW in 2020.

According to GlobalData, this growth will largely be driven by renewable energy targets in several states, such as Alaska’s aim to reach 50% renewable power generation and Texas’ mandate to achieve 10 GW of renewable capacity, both by 2025.