America’s wind industry built 5,115 megawatts (MW) of wind power last year, barely half of 2009’s record pace. However, the industry entered 2011 with more than 5,600 MW currently under construction. And with wind power cost-competitive with natural gas for new electric generation, utilities are moving to lock in favorable rates, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said.
"Wind power is a great deal right now in many areas of the country," said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). "However, our industry continues to endure a boom-bust cycle because of the lack of long-term, predictable federal policies, in contrast to the permanent entitlements that fossil fuels have enjoyed for 90 years or more."
"Now that we’re competing with natural gas on cost, we need consistent federal policies to ensure we have a diverse portfolio of energy sources in this country, and don’t become overreliant on one source or another," Bode added.
AWEA reported that 3,195 megawatts (MW) of wind-powered electric generating capacity came online in 4Q10. That performance was below the 4,113 MW installed in the same period in 2009, but a leap from 3Q10, when only 670 MW were installed. The U.S. finished the year with a total of 5,115 MW of new wind power.
Buoyed by a one-year extension of the 1603 Investment Tax Credit for renewable energy in the final days of the 111th Congress, the industry entered the new year with over 5,600 MW of electric power currently under construction, well above the same time a year earlier. Further projects are expected to start up in time to meet the new construction deadline for the tax credit, now set to expire at the end of 2011.
The industry is likely to finish 2011 ahead of 2010 numbers, according to Elizabeth Salerno, AWEA Director of Industry Data & Analysis.
"Wind’s costs have dropped over the past two years, with power purchase agreements being signed in the range of 5 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour recently." Salerno said. "With uncertainty around natural gas and power prices as the economy recovers, wind’s long-term price stability is even more valued. We expect that utilities will move to lock in more wind contracts, given the cost-competitive nature of wind in today’s market."
Total U.S. wind capacity now stands at 40,180 MW, an increase in capacity of 15% over the start of 2010, AWEA reported today. For the first time, U.S. capacity fell second to China’s; China now has 41,800 MW in operation, an increase of 62% in capacity over a year ago, according to a Jan. 13 report from the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association.
The top five states for cumulative wind energy capacity at the close of 2010 all have such state targets:
- Texas – 10,085 MW
- Iowa – 3,675
- California – 3,177
- Minnesota – -2,192
- Washington – 2,105
Texas, the leading wind power state in America for several years running, achieved a major milestone by surging past the 10,000 MW mark for total installations, a quarter of all wind capacity in the U.S., with the addition of 680 MW in 2010. Known as the hub of the oil-and-gas industry, Texas achieved the mark thanks to aggressive pursuit of renewable energy and a renewable electricity standard passed in 1999 and strengthened in 2005. On average, wind now generates 7.8% of the electricity in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) which covers most of the state, peaking as high as 25%.
Other states active in pursuing targets for renewable energy last year were Illinois (498 MW added), California (455 MW), South Dakota (396), and Minnesota (396 MW). Five more states, which generally began tapping their inexhaustible wind resources more recently than the leaders, showed growth rates above 100%. The list starts with Delaware and Maryland, which added their first utility-scale wind turbines in 2010:
- Delaware & Maryland – First utility-scale installation
- Idaho +140%
- South Dakota +126%
- Arizona +103%
With the addition of Delaware and Maryland, 38 states now have utility-scale wind projects, and 14 of those have now installed more than 1,000 MW of wind power.
AWEA’s Fourth Quarter Market Report for 2010 is available here .
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Read PRoPublica coverage by Abrahm Lustgarten at the link below.
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