The U.S. wind energy industry is on track to add well over 3,000 megawatts (MW) to the nation’s power generating capacity in 2007, thereby topping last year’s record of 2,454 MW, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said today in its second quarter market report.
Some 935 MW were completed during this second quarter, the trade group said, bringing the total installed during the first half of the year to 1,059 MW. One megawatt of wind power produces enough electricity on average to serve 250 to 300 homes.
This bullish performance by the industry is tempered, however, by supply chain shortages and policy uncertainty--two barriers that are related. Wind power developers report that turbine availability is a limiting factor--in other words, there is demand for even more wind energy but companies can’t build more projects because there aren’t enough new wind turbines to buy. And, in turn, there aren’t enough manufacturing facilities for turbines and turbine parts in the country because the U.S. government’s intermittent policy toward renewables has discouraged companies from investing in manufacturing facilities.
“We’re seeing many new wind farms come on line, and very exciting new investment in wind turbine manufacturing, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg compared to what needs to happen to meet the increasing demand for wind power,” said AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “What is critical at this juncture is for the U.S. government to put in place a full-value, long-term
extension of the production tax credit (PTC) and a national renewable energy portfolio standard (RES) requiring that utilities generate more electricity from renewable sources. These policies will give the clear, big picture signal of
support for renewable energy that this country urgently needs.”
The new projects completed this quarter are located in:
- Texas (603 MW)
- Illinois (198 MW)
- Colorado (75 MW)
- Iowa (36 MW)
- New York (20 MW)
- Minnesota (3 MW)
Texas now has over 3,000 MW installed, strengthening its position as the state with the most wind power capacity. The ranking for the top five states remains Texas (3,352 MW), California (2,376 MW), Iowa (967 MW), Minnesota (897 MW),
and Washington (818 MW).
One of the new wind projects is the first-ever to be located on an industrial “brownfield”: the 20-MW Steel Winds project, which consists of eight sleek,
high-tech turbines along the rustbelt waterfront in Lackawanna, N. Y., along
Lake Erie. The turbines stand above what was once a Bethlehem Steel site where industrial wastes accumulated over the years. Several wind farms in the Eastern U.S. are located on former mine sites or near wastewater treatment plants. This is the first wind farm in the country to operate on a former Superfund site, demonstrating wind power’s potential to revitalize industrial as well as rural communities. Video and print clips about Steel Winds are available at http://www.bqenergy.com/steelwinds/news.html
Manufacturing plants announced or opened this year include:
- DMI: planning a tower production facility in Tulsa, Okla.;
- Knight & Carver: opened a blade manufacturing facility in Howard, S.D;
- LM Glasfiber: will open a blade manufacturing facility in Little Rock, Ark.;
- PPG Industries: adapting a facility to produce high-tech fiberglass for blades near Shelby, N.C.;
- Trinity Structural Towers: opening a facility in Clinton, Ill.;
- Vestas: opening a wind turbine facility in Windsor, Colo.
“As these examples show, wind power creates business opportunities and jobs across the country, often in areas that have lost manufacturing jobs over the past years,” said Swisher. “Just as wind energy’s potential has barely been tapped, we have only just begun to see its ability to create economic benefits.”
For more information see AWEA’s project map at www.awea.org/projects.
