Wind power swells speedily in Sweden as demand for green energy continues to increase.

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Development of new wind power stations in the Scandinavian country is expected to break the record this year despite the fact that global investment in wind power has slowed during the economic slump.

“We are very happy but also surprised”, Gunnar Fredriksson, vice president of the trade association Swedish Wind Energy, told The Swedish Wire, adding that he’s been concerned about how the aftermath of the financial crisis would hit the industry. “The industry has well withstood the recession”.

The organization expects an addition of 557 megawatts (MW) to be installed in wind power in 2010, an increase by 36 percent compared to last year, it said Wednesday.

Gothenburg-based wind power operator Gothia Vind announced the previous day that it plans to build 100 new wind power station in Southern Sweden with a total capacity of 200-300 MW. The project will be made in collaboration with Dutch investment fund Green Power Development, backed by Japanese banks.

The Swedish center-right government aims to have a output of renewable energy amounting to 50 percent of energy needs by 2020. Today around 20 percent of Sweden's current energy production comes from renewable sources.

The development of wind turbines has been very rapid - since the mid-1980s, turbines have doubled in size every four years. During 2009, 198 new wind turbines were installed in Sweden. At the moment there are 219 wind turbines with a combined generating capacity of 495 MW under construction.

In March General Electrics, the multinational American technology and services conglomerate, said it would invest 50 million euro in Swedish wind power. GE is looking for local subcontractors with annual assignments worth billions of dollars.

Also E.ON, a energy corporation based in Düsseldorf, plans large investments in Swedish wind power projects. The German utility will spend 500 million kronor ($65.1 million) on wind turbines located near Gothenburg, Helsingborg and Nybro.

However, global investment in wind power slowed during the economic slump in the U.S. and Europe, lowering prices paid for wind farms, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems, the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, said last month it swung to a second-quarter net loss and cut its outlook for 2010 as it felt the impact of its very low order intake last year.