Wind power officially cost effective, AWEA hopes for more incentives from Feds

In his January State of the Union Address President Obama has set a national goal that 80% of electricity come from clean energy sources by 2035.  Looking at wind-power alone, the goal seems very doable. While many are willing to make sacrifices to use clean energy, clean energy makes sense even for those only concerned with short term costs.  

According to the American Wind Energy Associaton in a January 24, 2011 report, wind installations in 2010 were installed at only half the rate of 2009 (5,115 megawatts of wind power). China moved ahead of the US in wind energy production in 2010. In 2011 is looking better with 5,600 megawatts currently under construction. "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.

With uncertainty over national policies still holding back the U.S. industry, state targets for renewable energy continue to drive wind installations in many areas of the country. "We'll continue to work for a strong federal energy policy that drives the deployment of renewable energy technologies in the 112th Congress," Bode said, "but we'll also be defending and improving on state renewable targets, as well as promoting other sources of demand - such as more distributed and community wind projects, and corporate purchasing under the new WindMade trustmark."

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-megawatt 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%. 

Idaho

+140% in first utility-scale installation

South Dakota

+126%

Arizona

+103%

Delaware and Maryland, also added their first utility-scale wind turbines in 2010.  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.

The AWE responds to the State of the Union Address: 

On producing 80% of U.S. electricity from "clean energy sources" by 2035:

We look forward to reviewing the proposal. It is important from a jobs perspective to focus on deploying clean energy sources over the next few years. Wind energy is ready to go now; we don't need to wait nearly three decades.

We've got to more than double the renewable portion to have a truly diversified portfolio.

By 2030 wind can be up to 20% of the electric supply all by itself, according to a study by the George W. Bush administration. And it insources jobs and investment into America. That's what our industry is doing to make good on this national commitment to clean energy and economic growth.

On putting 1 million advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015: 

We are looking forward to driving our cars on wind. With plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles headed for showrooms, that has finally become a reality.

We applaud the president's emphasis on innovation and ingenuity, and getting more jobs from clean energy. Wind energy has improved its efficiency 40% in five years. In tight budget years, it makes sense to invest our money in that kind of new technology.

We look forward to working with the new majority in the House and leaders in the Senate to diversity America's energy portfolio and foster renewed economic growth.

Manufactures of clean energy, clean energy job hunters, and those who want clean energy to power their lives now look to the Federal government for a nonpartisan effort to grow clean energy sources in the US.