Wind power in the United States

Brazos Wind Ranch in Texas.

Part of the Biglow Canyon Wind Farm, with a turbine under construction

Landowners typically receive $3,000 to $5,000 per year in rental income from each wind turbine, while farmers continue to grow crops or graze cattle up to the foot of the turbines.^[1]

At the end of 2009, the installed capacity of wind power in the United States was just over 35,000 megawatts (35 GW),^[2][3] making it the world leader ahead of Germany. Wind power accounts for about 2% of the electricity generated in the United States.^[4]

Over 9,900 MW of new wind power capacity was brought online in 2009, up from 8,800 in 2008. In 2009 added new capacity was enough to power the equivalent of 2.4 million homes or generate as much electricity as three large nuclear power plants.^[5]

These new installations place the U.S. on a trajectory to generate 20% of the nation’s electricity by 2030 from wind energy.^[2] Growth in 2008 channeled some $17 billion into the economy, positioning wind power as one of the leading sources of new power generation in the country, along with natural gas. New wind projects completed in 2008 account for about 42% of the entire new power-producing capacity added in the U.S. during the year.^[6]

At the end of 2008, about 85,000 people were employed in the U.S. wind industry,^[7] and GE Energy was the largest domestic wind turbine manufacturer.^[1] Wind projects boosted local tax bases, and revitalized the economy of rural communities by providing a steady income stream to farmers with wind turbines on their land.^[1] Wind power in the U.S. provides enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 9 million homes, avoiding the emissions of 57 million tons of carbon each year and reducing expected carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2.5%.^[6]

Texas, with 9,410 MW of capacity, has the most installed wind power capacity of any U.S. state, followed by Iowa with 3,053 MW.^[2] The Roscoe Wind Farm (780 MW) in Texas is the world's largest wind farm.^[8]

[edit] The world's top wind producer

Map of available wind power over the United States. Color codes indicate wind power density class.

At the end of 2009, the U.S. wind power nameplate capacity became the largest in the world, followed by Germany, with China a close third. Because U.S. wind farms have a higher average capacity factor than those in Germany due to higher average wind speeds, the U.S. became the world's largest producer of energy from the wind in mid-2008.^[9][10]

Wind power is growing rapidly worldwide and U.S. capacity has more than doubled in the past three years. Doubling U.S. wind energy capacity over the next three years would imply no change in annual growth.^[11] Doubling U.S. renewable energy over the next three years will, however imply a very significant growth, as only one-eighth of renewable energy was from wind in 2008, and little growth impact is expected due to any other renewable source.^[12] The largest projects are in Texas, the Great Plains, and California, with smaller projects either underway or under consideration in many states. The largest operational wind farm is the Roscoe Wind Farm (780 MW) in Texas.^[8]

As of June 30, 2010, the top five states with the most wind capacity installed are:^[13]

• Texas (9,708 MW)
• Iowa (3,670 MW)
• California (2,739 MW)
• Oregon (1,920 MW)
• Washington (1,914 MW)

[edit] Installed capacity growth

Over the last few years, wind power in the U.S. has been increasing exponentially. The following table uses data from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to show the wind energy capacity growth in megawatts of the entire United States since 1999.^[14][15] Installed capacity increased by 50% in the U.S. in 2008, compared to a 28.8% world average growth rate.^[16]

Year U.S. MW Change  % Change 1999 2,472 N/A N/A 2000 2,539 67 2.71% 2001 4,232 1,693 66.68% 2002 4,687 455 10.75% 2003 6,350 1,663 35.48% 2004 6,723 373 5.87% 2005 9,147 2,424 36.06% 2006 11,575 2,428 26.54% 2007 16,907 5,332 46.06% 2008 25,410 8,503 50.29% 2009 34,863 9,453 37.20%

Image from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory showing wind power capacity in each state from 1999-2009

[edit] Potential capacity

On February 11, 2010, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released the first comprehensive update of the wind energy potential by state since 1993, showing that the contiguous United States had potential to install 10,458,945 MW of onshore wind power.^[17][18] The capacity could generate 37,000,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) annually, an amount nine times larger than current total U.S. electricity consumption.^[19] This amount is also larger than the total U.S. primary energy consumption of 29 PWh in 2005. The U.S. also has large wind resources in Alaska,^[20] and Hawaii.^[21]

In addition to the large onshore wind resources, the U.S. has large offshore wind power potential,^[22] with another NREL report released in September 2010 showing that the U.S. has 4,150 GW of potential offshore wind power nameplate capacity, an amount 4 times greater than the country's 2008 installed capacity from all sources of 1,010 GW.^[23][24] As of 2010, most wind power development in the U.S. has been onshore, due to the higher costs and risks of offshore wind power, along with delays due to opposition to projects such as Cape Wind.

[edit] Wind power by state

Much of the new wind power capacity is being built in the Great Plains and Midwest regions of the United States, which have a favorable combination of characteristics: ample wind resources, an extensive rail and highway network for shipping outsized turbine components, flat topography which both improves the wind and makes turbine components easier to ship, and broad acceptance from local farmers and ranchers. New development in some locations, however, is being limited by lack of additional capacity to transmit power to locations where it can be used.^[25] Other areas seeing wind development include the Pacific Northwest, and Northeast. The table below shows wind potential, installed capacity (through December 2009), and 2009 wind energy production.

• Note: 80 m capacity is based on available windy area after exclusions.

[1] Does not include offshore capacity. Several states have substantial offshore capacity.

[edit] Wind power in Texas

Wind power in Texas consists of many wind farms with a total installed capacity of 9,410 MW.^[30] Some of the larger wind farms in Texas include the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, Sweetwater Wind Farm, King Mountain Wind Farm, Roscoe Wind Farm, Desert Sky Wind Farm, Woodward Mt. I & II, and Brazos Wind Ranch.^[31]

The Roscoe Wind Farm in Roscoe, Texas is the world's largest wind farm with 627 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 781.5 MW, which surpasses the nearby 735.5 MW Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center. It is located about 200 miles (320 km) west of Fort Worth and the wind farm area spans parts of four Texas counties.^[32][33]

Expansion of wind power capacity will help Texas meet its renewable energy goal of 5,000 megawatts of new power from renewable sources by 2015.^[34]

[edit] Wind power in California

Wind power in California has been an area of considerable activity for many years. California was the first U.S. state where large wind farms were developed, beginning in the early 1980s.^[35] By 1995, California produced 30 percent of the entire world's wind-generated electricity.^[36] In 2004, California produced 4,258 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, roughly 1.5 percent of the total energy consumed by the state.^[36]

More than 13,000 of California's wind turbines, or 95 percent of all of California's wind output, are located in three primary regions: Altamont Pass Wind Farm (east of San Francisco); Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm (south east of Bakersfield), and San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm (near Palm Springs, east of Los Angeles).^[36]

[edit] Kansas

Kansas has high potential capacity for wind power, second behind Texas. The most recent estimates are that Kansas has a potential for 950 GW of wind power capacity yet has only about 1,000 MW installed. Kansas could generate 3,900 TW·h of electricity each year which represents nearly all the electricity generated from coal, natural gas and nuclear combined in the United States in 2008.^[26]).

[edit] Largest wind farms

As of December 2008, these are some of the largest wind farms in the United States:

The majority of the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm as viewed from the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. (The farm continues over the hills to the north along California State Route 62 and is not visible from this vantagepoint). The layout includes a variety of large modern and older smaller turbine designs

The Roscoe Wind Farm in Texas is the world's largest wind farm at 781.5 megawatt (MW) capacity. It consists of 627 wind turbines manufactured by General Electric, Mitsubishi, and Siemens. It surpassed the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center in 2009. The project spans four Texas counties and covers an area the size of Manhattan.^[44][45]

The Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in Benton County, Indiana has generating capacity of 600 MW total. The first phase of the project, consisted of 222 wind turbines installed 400 MW of capacity . Phase 2, completed in 2009 installed an additional 200 MW of capacity.^[46]

[edit] Wind power industry

In the past, the U.S. wind industry relied largely on imported components; however, there has been a shift towards domestic manufacturing that is likely to continue. Since 2005 many turbine manufacturing leaders have opened U.S. facilities; of the top 10 global manufacturers in 2007, seven — Vestas, GE Energy, Gamesa, Suzlon, Siemens, Acciona, and Nordex — have an American manufacturing presence. In addition, Clipper Windpower, which is based in the U.S., has joined GE as a major domestic player in the production of utility-scale wind turbines, with the two companies together accounting for 50% of the 2008 domestic turbine market.^[47][48][49]

REpower is another manufacturer with notable usage in the United States.^[50]

As of April 2009, over 100 companies are producing components for wind turbines, employing thousands of workers in the manufacture of parts as varied as towers, composite blades, bearings and gears. Many existing companies in traditional manufacturing states have retooled to enter the wind industry. Their manufacturing facilities are spread across 40 states, employing workers from the Southeast to the Steel Belt, to the Great Plains and on to the Pacific Northwest.^[47]

Plans for 30 new manufacturing facilities were announced in 2008, and the wind industry expects to see a continued shift towards domestic manufacturing in the coming years. In total, 70 manufacturing facilities have begun production, been expanded, or announced since January 2007.^[47]

[edit] Government involvement

Kaheawa Wind Farm near Maalaea, Maui, with 20 GE Energy 1.5 MW wind turbines

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will work with six leading wind turbine manufacturers over the next 2 years towards achieving 20% wind power in the United States by 2030. The DOE announced the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GE Energy, Siemens Power Generation, Vestas Wind Systems, Clipper Windpower, Suzlon Energy, and Gamesa Corporation. Under the MOU, the DOE and the six manufacturers will collaborate to gather and exchange information relating to five major areas: research and development related to turbine reliability and operability; siting strategies for wind power facilities; standards development for turbine certification and universal interconnection of wind turbines; manufacturing advances in design, process automation, and fabrication techniques; and workforce development.^[51][52]

In addition, the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced a number of wind technology projects, including a new state-of-the-art wind turbine blade test facility to be build in Ingleside, Texas. The Texas-NREL Large Blade Research and Test Facility will be capable of testing blades as long as 70 meters (230 feet). It will be built and operated through a partnership among NREL, DOE, and a state consortium led by University of Houston, with the university owning and operating the facility's buildings, DOE funding up to $2 million in capital costs, and NREL providing technical and operational assistance. The blade test facility is estimated to cost between $12 million and $15 million and should be completed by 2010. Located on the Gulf Coast, the Texas facility will complement a similar facility that is being built on the coast of Massachusetts.^[53]

NREL has also recently signed agreements with Siemens Power Generation and First Wind, a wind power developer. Siemens is launching a new research and development facility in nearby Boulder, Colorado, and has agreed to locate and test a commercial-scale wind turbine at NREL's National Wind Technology Center (NWTC). First Wind (formerly called UPC Wind Partners, LLC) owns and operates the 30-megawatt Kaheawa Wind Power farm in West Maui, Hawaii, and has agreed to let the NWTC establish a Remote Research Affiliate Partner Site at the facility. The Maui satellite of NWTC will collaborate with First Wind on studies to develop advanced wind energy technologies, including energy storage and integration of renewable electricity into Maui's electrical grid.^[54]

In July 2008, Texas approved a $4.93 billion expansion of the state's electric grid to bring wind energy to its major cities. Transmission companies will recoup the cost of constructing the new power lines, expected to be completed in 2013, from fees estimated at $4 per month for residential customers.^[55] This lack of capacity forced wind turbines to be shut down at times and reduced wind power generation in Texas by 17% in 2009.^[56]

The Green Power Express is a proposal for an electric power transmission grid that would transmit up to 12,000 MW of wind generated power from the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa to the Chicago area and to southeastern U.S. states.^[57] The system would add some 3,000 miles of extra high voltage (765 kilovolt) transmission lines.^[58] It has received some approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the U.S. government. New transmission grid power lines would be needed to transmit power from sources like the Titan Wind Project to population centers further east.^[59] Opponents claim the lines would also be used to transmit electricity from coal fired powerplants.

[edit] Tax credits

A federal production tax credit (PTC) of $19 per MW·h generated for the first ten years for wind energy sold as well as RPS mandating a certain percentage of electricity sales come from renewable energy sources in about half of the states has boosted the development of the wind industry. At the time the wind power tax credit was due to expire at the end of the year, and the display was intended to bring awareness to the wind industry. Each year that the tax credit has not been renewed well before it expires the number of installations has dropped significantly the following year, and since it was not renewed until October 3, it is expected that 2009 will as well see a slowing of construction starts.^[60] The 30% tax credit for installing photovoltaics was extended at the same time for eight years, but wind for only one year. The industry has asked for a long term extension, in order to provide stability, particularly because projects of long lead times for project development and construction (2 to 3 years of wind data collection, 2 years lead time on turbine orders, and 6 to 9 months for construction.)

A recent effort has ensued to make the production tax credit either refundable or transferable. Because wind energy projects do not provide returns sufficient to capture the full value of the PTC on their own, the PTCs are not currently refundable or tradable, the owner of a wind energy project must either have profits from other activities to provide "tax appetite" or include a tax equity partner in the project financing. In the fourth quarter of 2008 the cost of tax equity capital shot up as a response to the global credit crisis, making the cost of energy from wind energy projects increase by 10% or more.

[edit] Additional income for farmers

Shiloh Wind Power Plant in Solano County, California

There is competition for wind farms among farmers in places like Iowa or ranchers in Colorado. Farmers, with no investment on their part, typically receive $3,000–5,000 per year in royalties^[61] from the local utility for siting a single, large, advanced-design wind turbine.^{[62][63][64][65][66]}

[edit] Aesthetics, the environment and quality of life

Landscape and ecological issues may be significant for some wind farm proposals.^[67] However, when appropriate planning procedures for site selection are followed environmental problems should be minimal. Some people may still object to wind farms, but their concerns should be weighed against the need to address the threats posed by climate change and fossil fuel depletion, the need for energy security, and the opinions of the broader community.^[68][69]

Worldwide experience has shown that community consultation and direct involvement of the general public in wind farm projects has helped to increase community approval,^[70] and some wind farms overseas have become tourist attractions.^[69][71]

[edit] Offshore wind power

In June 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued five exploratory leases for wind power production on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore from New Jersey and Delaware. The leases authorize data gathering activities, allowing for the construction of meteorological towers on the Outer Continental Shelf from six to 18 miles offshore.^[72]

[edit] Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, the Cape Wind project, a proposal to construct 130 offshore wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, has been the subject of heavy debate for many years^[73] in the affluent communities of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, as well as among environmentalists. Despite these concerns, at a news conference held on April 28, 2010, Interior Secretary Salazar announced his intent to approve the project. During May 2010, the project had been approved by the FAA over concerns of radar interference with nearby military bases, and Cape Wind announced a power purchase agreement with National Grid to sell half the project's output (i.e. about 750 million kW·h/year).

[edit] Rhode Island

At the state level, a goal was set in 2004 by the governor of having 15% of electricity come from renewable sources by 2020. As of 2008, Rhode Island has less than a quarter of one percent of its energy coming from in-state renewable sources.

State officials picked Deepwater Wind to build a $1.5-billion, 385-megawatt wind farm in federal waters off Block Island. The 100-turbine project could provide 1.3 terawatt-hours (TW·h) of electricity per year — 15 percent of all electricity used in the state.^[74][75][76] In 2009, Deepwater signed an agreement with National Grid to sell the power from a $200-million, 30-MW wind farm off Block Island, at an initial price of 24.4 ¢/kW·h.^[77]

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Installed wind energy capacity

[edit] Percentage of electricity generated from wind

[edit] See also

	Energy portal
	United States portal

• American Wind Energy Association
• List of wind farms in the United States
• Liberty Wind Turbine
• National Wind
• Renewable energy in the United States
• List of onshore wind farms
• Windpower in the United States at TheWindpower.net

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media  related to (category): Wind power in the United States or Wind farms in the United States

• US-DOE:
  • Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
  • and Hydropower Program Web site.
• Danish windmill blade maker to open U.S. factory
• FPL Energy to Add 10,000 MW of Wind Power by 2012
• First death of a U.S. wind farm worker recorded
• "Wind Farm Buffets Family, Town Relations by David Baron". http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89432191. Retrieved 2008-04-09. 
• U.S. Wind Industry Installs 1400 MW of Wind Power in First Quarter 2008
• Research finds wind power poses least risk to wildlife
• Plans advance for first U.S. offshore wind farm
• Wind Development in New York State (Wind Power Law Blog)
• Surpassing expectations: State of the US wind power market
• Offshore Wind May Power the Future

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