Wind power in the United States

As of the third quarter of 2011, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power in the United States was 43,461 megawatts (MW),^[2] making it second in the world, behind China.^[3] In 2010 wind power accounted for 2.3% of the electricity generated in the United States.^[4] This amounted to 94,650 thousand megawatt-hours of electricity.^[5]

Driven by state renewable energy mandates, fourteen states have installed over 1,000 MW of wind capacity, and a total of 37 states now have installed at least some utility-scale wind power.^[6] Texas, with 10,135 MW of capacity, has the most installed wind power capacity of any U.S. state, followed by Iowa with 3,675 MW. The Roscoe Wind Farm (781 MW) in Texas is the largest wind farm in the US as of 2009.^[7] Shepherds Flat Wind Farm in Oregon will be the largest wind farm in the world, when completed in 2012, with the nameplate capacity of 845 MW.^[8]

The U.S. wind industry generates tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity.^[9] Wind projects boost local tax bases, and revitalize the economy of rural communities by providing a steady income stream to farmers with wind turbines on their land.^[1] GE Energy is the largest domestic wind turbine manufacturer.^[1]

There are currently 8,482 MW in 90 projects under construction in the third quarter of 2011.^[2] The U.S. Department of Energy’s report 20% Wind Energy by 2030 envisioned that wind power could supply 20% of all U.S. electricity, which included a contribution of 4% from offshore wind power.^[9] However, significant advances in cost, performance, and reliability will be needed.^[10] In August 2011, a coalition of 24 governors asked the Obama administration to provide a more favorable business climate for the development of wind power.^[11]

Overview

China has the largest installed capacity of wind power, followed by the United States.^[12] Wind power is growing rapidly worldwide and U.S. capacity has more than doubled in the past three years.^[13]

As of 30 September 2011 (2011 -09-30)^[update], the top five states with the most wind capacity installed are:^[2][14][15]

• Texas (10,223 MW)
• Iowa (3,708 MW)
• California (3,599 MW)
• Minnesota (2,681 MW)
• Illinois (2,438 MW)

The top five states according to percentage of generation by wind in 2010 are:^[16]

• Iowa (15.4%)
• North Dakota (12.0%)
• Minnesota (9.7%)
• South Dakota (8.3%)
• Kansas (7.2%)

As of 30 June 2011 (2011 -06-30)^[update], these are the ten largest wind farms in the United States:

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.^[21][22]

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.^[23]

National trends

Over the last few years, wind power in the U.S. has been increasing rapidly. In 2010, however, new construction was about half of the previous year due to various factors.^[14] 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.^[24][25] In 2008, installed capacity in the U.S. increased by 50% over the prior year. The world average growth rate that year was 28.8%.^[26]

State trends

Driven by state renewable energy targets, fourteen states have installed over 1,000 MW of wind capacity, and a total of 37 states now have installed at least some utility-scale wind power.^[6] 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.^[27] Other areas seeing wind development include the Pacific Northwest, and Northeast.

Texas

In 2010 Texas surpassed the 10,000 MW mark with the addition of over 600 MW of generating capacity.^[14] Wind power in Texas consists of many wind farms with a total installed capacity of 10,223 MW.^[2] 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.^[28][29]

Expansion of wind power capacity will help Texas meet its renewable energy goal of 5,000 MW of new power from renewable sources by 2015.^[34] On October 28, 2010, strong winds pushed wind power to 25% of the electrical generation in Texas.^[6]

Iowa

Wind power in Iowa has 3,675 megawatts (MW) of capacity in 2010, second only to Texas. Wind power accounted for almost 20 percent of the state’s electricity generation in the first quarter of 2011. Since Iowa adopted a renewable energy standard in 1983, the wind power industry has generated almost $5 billion in investment. The 444 MW Rolling Hills Wind Farm in southwestern Iowa is due to be completed in late 2011.^[35]

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.^[36] By 1995, California produced 30 percent of the entire world's wind-generated electricity.^[37] In 2004, California produced 4,258 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, roughly 1.5 percent of the total energy consumed by the state.^[37]

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). The new Alta Wind Energy Center, is also located within the Tehachapi Pass region.^[37]

Minnesota

At the end of 2008, the installed capacity for wind power in Minnesota was 1,754 megawatts (MW), and wind farms provided more than 7 per cent of the electricity used in the state.^[39] Wind farms in Minnesota include the Buffalo Ridge Wind Farm (225 MW), the Fenton Wind Farm (205.5 MW), the Nobles Wind Farm (201 MW) and the Bent Tree Wind Farm (201 MW).^[40][41]

Washington

Oregon

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.^[44]

Commercialization of wind power

Industry trends

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.^[45][46][47] REpower is another manufacturer with notable usage in the United States.^[48]

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.^[45]

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.^[45]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is working with six leading wind turbine manufacturers 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.^[49][50]

Government involvement

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 built 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.^[51]

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.^[52]

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.^[53] This lack of capacity forced wind turbines to be shut down at times and reduced wind power generation in Texas by 17% in 2009.^[54]

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.^[55] The system would add some 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of extra high voltage (765 kilovolt) transmission lines.^[56] 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.^[57] Opponents claim the lines would also be used to transmit electricity from coal fired powerplants.

The U.S. provides a federal production tax credit (PTC) of $21 per MW·h generated for the first ten years of operation for wind energy sold. RPS mandating a certain percentage of electricity sales come from renewable energy sources in about half of the states also have boosted the development of the wind industry.^[58]

In August 2011, a coalition of 24 governors asked the Obama administration to provide a more favorable business climate for the development of wind power, starting with “a seven-year extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) to provide stable, low tax rates for wind-generated electricity”. The governors said that these measures would help to “drive economic growth, energy development, and the creation of high-paying jobs”.^[11]

Siting considerations

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^[59] from the local utility for siting a single, large, advanced-design wind turbine.^{[60][61][62][63][64]}

Landscape and ecological issues may be significant for some wind farm proposals.^[65] 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.^[66][67]

Worldwide experience has shown that community consultation and direct involvement of the general public in wind farm projects has helped to increase community approval,^[68] and some wind farms overseas have become tourist attractions.^[67][69]

Potential capacity

The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2008 report 20% Wind Energy by 2030 envisioned that wind power could supply 20% of all U.S. electricity, which included a contribution of 4% to the nation’s total electricity from offshore wind power.^[9] However, in order to achieve this, significant advances in cost, performance and reliability are needed, according to a report in 2011 from a coalition of researchers from universities, industry, and government, supported by the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.^[10]

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 10,459 GW of onshore wind power.^[70][71] The capacity could generate 37 petawatt-hours (PW·h) annually, an amount nine times larger than current total U.S. electricity consumption.^[72] The U.S. also has large wind resources in Alaska,^[73] and Hawaii.^[74]

In addition to the large onshore wind resources, the U.S. has large offshore wind power potential,^[75] 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.^[76][77]

Offshore wind power

As of 2011^[update], the United States has no offshore wind power.^[78] 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 (29 km) offshore.^[79] Four areas are being considered.^[80] On February 7, 2011, Salazar and Stephen Chu announced a national strategy to have offshore wind power of 10 GW in 2020, and 54 GW in 2030.^[78]

The United States has very large offshore wind energy resources due to strong, consistent winds off the long U.S. coastline. Offshore wind energy is a clean, domestic, renewable resource that can assist the U.S. in meeting energy, environmental, and economic challenges.^[9] A robust U.S. offshore wind industry could generate tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity. Much of this activity would boost economically depressed ports and shipyards, which could be repurposed to manufacture and install offshore wind turbines.^[9] Research on European offshore wind farms shows that offshore wind generates more jobs per megawatt installed than onshore wind. A Virginia study has shown that the development of 3,200 MW of offshore wind would create 9,700-11,600 jobs within 20 years, and that installation of a 588 MW offshore wind farm would attract $403 million of investment in the local economy regardless of where the turbines were manufactured.^[81][82] Though offshore wind turbines are more expensive to build than onshore turbines (because they tend to be larger and must be anchored to the sea-floor), they also tend to generate more electricity than onshore turbines because of their size.^[82]

Some coastal residents oppose offshore wind farms because of fears about impacts on marine life, the environment, electricity rates, aesthetics, and recreation such as fishing and boating. However, residents also cite improved electricity rates, air quality, and job creation as positive impacts they would expect from wind farms.^[82][83] Because the bases of offshore turbines function as artificial reefs, studies have shown that after the initial disturbance of construction, local fish and shellfish are positively affected.^[82][84] Because wind turbines can be positioned at some distance from shore, impacts to recreation and fishing can be managed by careful planning of wind farm locations.^[82]

In 2011, the NREL published a report, Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States, that analyzes the current state of the offshore wind energy industry. According to the report, "developing the offshore wind resource along U.S. coastlines and in the Great Lakes would help the nation":^[85]

• Achieve 20% of its electricity from wind by 2030, as offshore wind could supply 54 gigawatts of wind capacity to the nation’s electrical grid, increasing energy security, reducing air and water pollution, and stimulating the domestic economy.
• Provide clean power to its coastal demand centers, as wind power emits no carbon dioxide (CO2) and there are plentiful winds off the coasts of 26 states.
• Revitalize its manufacturing sector, generating an "estimated $200 billion in new economic activity, and create more than 43,000 permanent, well-paid technical jobs in manufacturing, construction, engineering, operations and maintenance".

NREL’s report concludes that "the development of the nation’s offshore wind resources can provide many potential benefits, and with effective research, policies, and commitment, offshore wind energy can play a vital role in future U.S. energy markets".^[85]

Massachusetts

The Cape Wind Project is an approved^[86][87] offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, proposed by a private developer, Cape Wind Associates.^[88] If the project moves forward on schedule, it may^[89] become the first offshore wind energy project in United States coastal waters. The project has been fought by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, formed in 2001 to oppose the proposal. The project is expected to cost $2.5 billion.^[90]

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. 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.^[91][92][93] 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.^[94]

New Jersey

In 2007, New Jersey awarded a $4.4 million contract to conduct an 18-month Ocean/Wind Power Ecological Baseline Study, becoming the first state to sponsor an ocean and wind power study before allowing renewable energy developers to study and build off its shores. The study focused on a designated area off the coast to determine the current distribution, abundance and migratory patterns of avian species, fish, marine resources and sea turtle use of the existing ecological resources.^[95] In 2008, new federal rules greatly expanded the territory offshore wind parks can be built. Previously, projects were only allowed in shallow state waters within 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) of shore. The edge of U.S. territory is about 200 nautical miles (370 km) out. Increased distance from the coast diminishes their visibility, at the same time create problems of stability.^[96] In June 2010, the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection released the results of the study which stated that the effects of developing offshore windfarms would be "negligible".^[97][98][99] Soon after, the New Jersey Legislature created and the governor signed the Offshore Wind Economic Development Act. The law provides for financial incentives and tax credits to support offshore wind projects. It also authorized a new Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate (OREC) program and rules that developers must follow to obtain approval and receive ORECs.^{[100][101][102]}

Atlantic Wind Connection

Atlantic Wind Connection is a proposed electrical transmission backbone to be built off the Atlantic Coast of the United States to serve off-shore wind farms. Google and Good Energies, an investment firm, are the major investors in the $5 billion dollar project proposed by Trans-Elect Development Company which would deliver power ashore in southern Virginia, Delaware, southern New Jersey and northern New Jersey. The proposed system has been praised by environmentalists and federal regulators, but as a first of its kind project, poses significant risks of encountering unexpected technological challenges and cost overruns.^[103] Such an offshore backbone is an element in the national electricity strategy.^[78]

See also

• American Wind Energy Association
• List of wind farms in the United States
• Renewable energy in the United States
• List of onshore wind farms
• Wind ENergy Data & Information (WENDI) Gateway

References