Wind Energy - Blowing your mind one turbine at a time

Wind, it cooks your dinner.

Midwest turns to wind turbines

By JENNIFER A. DLOUHY Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

April 8, 2010

The wind-energy industry last year installed 5,700 new turbines with more than 10,000 megawatts of generating capacity — enough to serve more than 2.4 million homes — said the American Wind Energy Association.

Texas leads the nation with more than 9,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity, including 2,292 megawatts added last year. But Iowa is the leader in relying on wind-generated electricity. Last year, 14.2 percent of the state's electrical power came from wind — compared to 1.8 percent nationwide.

Indiana added 905 megawatts of capacity in 2009, second only to Texas. Measured by total installed capacity, the top states are Texas, Iowa, California, Washington and Oregon.

The data from AWEA reveals another year of continued growth for wind power. But industry leaders said they are constrained by the nation's aging electrical transmission system and that sustained growth depends on the continuation of expiring federal tax credits as well as a new national requirement that power companies must get a portion of their electricity from renewable sources.

“What we have to do is get these policies in place that really provide that long-term commitment, so we can have that exponential growth,” said Denise Bode, AWEA's CEO.

In Great Plains, Pacific

Renewable electricity standards mandate the use of wind, solar and other easily replenished power sources in 39 countries and 29 states, including Texas and California. There is no similar nationwide mandate, though proposals for a federal requirement are pending in Congress.

A national renewable electricity requirement could steer utilities away from some lower-cost energy sources and encourage investment in wind and solar power.

Although an increasing number of states are adding wind power to their energy portfolios, turbines remain concentrated in the Great Plains and along the Pacific Coast. The industry has not secured a foothold in the Southeast, where less gusty conditions make the power source less attractive.

Abilene is tops

The nation's six largest wind farms are in Texas, with the biggest — the Roscoe Wind Farm near Abilene — boasting 782 megawatts of generating capacity.

Bode stressed that wind power projects are spurring domestic manufacturing and said the industry supported 85,000 U.S. jobs in 2009. “We're really one of the only bright spots out there in terms of growing the U.S. manufacturing sector,” he said.

Not everyone is as enthusiastic. Natural gas producers worry that fossil fuel will be displaced if utilities are forced to shift to renewable sources. James Mulva, the CEO of ConocoPhillips, told the U.S. Energy Association on Wednesday that mandated use of renewables for electricity generation “could prove pretty expensive” by unfairly giving an advantage to energy sources, even though they have a higher price tag.