A previous study from the body, published in 2009, predicted wind power would generate a 12% share of global electricity by 2050.
The IEA Technology Roadmap: Wind Energy finds that nearly 300GW of current wind power worldwide must increase eight- to ten-fold to achieve the roadmap's vision, with $150 billion per year needing to be invested, up from $78 billion in 2012.
Recent improvement in wind power technologies as well as the changing global energy context explain the higher long-term target, the IEA said.
It also shows China overtaking Europe as the leading producer of wind power by 2020 or 2025, with the US ranked third.
Wind power deployment under this vision would save up to 4.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year by 2050, with China providing by far the largest reductions.
