U.S. Wind Energy Industry Growing Despite Supply Chain Constraints
The U.S. wind energy industry is on track to add well over 3,000 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.
The U.S. wind energy industry is on track to add well over 3,000 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, bringing the total installed during the first half of the year to 1,059 MW, according to the report. One megawatt of wind power produces enough electricity on average to serve 250 to 300 homes.
The gains are tempered, however, by supply chain shortages and policy uncertainty, two related barriers, AWEA says.
Wind power developers report that turbine availability is a limiting factor. 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 policy toward renewables has discouraged companies from investing in manufacturing facilities.
According to the report, 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).
New projects completed this quarter are located in Texas (603 MW), Illinois (198 MW), Colorado (75 MW), Iowa (36 MW), New York (20 MW) and Minnesota (3 MW).
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