MADRID - Renewable energy made up the bulk of new power generation capacity added in the European Union last year, the European Wind Energy Association, or EWEA, said Wednesday.

Renewables accounted for 61% of new electricity generating capacity in 2009. Of the total new capacity, 39% was from wind power and 16% was from photovoltaic solar power, EWEA said.

“The figures, once again, confirm that wind power, together with other renewable energy technologies and a shift from coal to gas, are delivering massive European carbon reductions,” EWEA head Christian Kjaer is quoted as saying in a release.

The EU plans to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 by 20% from 1990 levels, and is willing to boost that target to 30% if other countries or regions present similar offers. The EU also has committed itself to meeting 20% of its electricity demand by 2020 from renewable sources.

For the second year in a row, more wind power capacity was installed in the EU than any other electricity-generating technology.

Of the 10,163 megawatts in EU wind power added in 2009, 582 MW were installed offshore.