U.S. Continues to Lead the World in Wind Power Growth

June 5, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2007 edition of its Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends, which provides a comprehensive overview of developments in the rapidly evolving U.S. wind power market, said DOE.

The report finds that U.S. wind power capacity increased by 46% in 2007, with $9B invested in U.S. wind plants that year, making the U.S. the fastest-growing wind power market in the world for the third straight year.

The report also showed that wind is on path to becoming a significant contributor to the U.S. power mix. Wind projects accounted for 35% of all new U.S. electric generating capacity in 2007.

Transmission facilities capable of generating a total of over 200 gigawatts (GW) of wind power are in the early stages of development throughout the U.S., said DOE.

"Following on the heels of a detailed analysis by DOE and its partners of the technical and economic feasibility of using wind to generate 20% of the nation's electricity by 2030, this record-shattering year of wind additions shows that wind power is already one of the most important, emission-free sources of energy being deployed to address climate change and improve our energy security," DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner said.

As part of the U.S. federal government's Advanced Energy Initiative, clean, secure and sustainable wind energy has the potential to play an increasingly important role in the government's long-term energy strategy to make investments to fundamentally change the way U.S. homes and businesses are powered. It also has the potential to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions growth by 2025, said DOE.

First issued last year, the report analyzes developments in the wind market, including trends in wind installations, turbine size, turbine prices, installed project costs, project performance, wind power prices and cost comparisons between wind power and conventional generation.

It also describes developer consolidation trends, current ownership and financing structures and trends among major wind power purchasers.

By consolidating these data in a single, publicly-available document, DOE hopes to provide a valuable resource to industry participants, energy regulators and state and local policymakers. The report has become a key benchmark by which the wind industry judges its progress and by which regulators and policymakers evaluate the merits of wind power, said DOE.

The second edition improves on the inaugural release by adding several sections that highlight the growing importance of wind power to the U.S. power mix and economy, said DOE. The second edition tracks significant increases in the contribution of wind power to new capacity additions in the electric sector; the amount of wind power in utility systems; the size of wind projects; and the quantity of wind power capacity in various interconnection queues across the country.

It also underscores the importance of wind power to the U.S. economy by presenting data on the growing number of investments in wind turbine manufacturing capacity in the U.S.

According to DOE, some of the key findings of the report include:

• The U.S. is the fastest-growing wind market worldwide. The U.S. has led the world in new wind capacity for three straight years and 1.2% of the U.S. electricity supply could be met with the wind capacity on line at the end of 2007.
• Growth is distributed across much of the U.S. States such as Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Oregon led the U.S. in annual capacity growth in 2007; nine states had enough wind capacity at the end of 2007 to account for more than 3% of total in-state electricity generation.
• Market growth is spurring manufacturing investments in the U.S. Several major foreign wind turbine manufacturers either opened or announced U.S. wind turbine manufacturing plants in 2007. New and existing U.S.-based manufacturers have either initiated or scaled-up production. The turbine and component manufacturing facilities opened or announced in 2007 could create more than 4,700 new jobs in the U.S.
• Wind turbine prices and installed project costs have risen since 2002. Turbine price increases have been driven by weakness in the dollar, higher prices for materials and energy inputs and shortages in certain turbine components - factors that are impacting many different types of generating technologies.
• Wind project performance has improved in recent years. This improvement in project performance was driven in part by enhanced project siting and technological advancements.
• Wind power is competitive and has provided good value in wholesale power markets. Despite rising project costs in recent years, wind power has consistently been priced at, or below, the average price of conventional electricity, as reflected in wholesale power prices.

2007 Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends is available in full on the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory web site.

Source: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).