US wind industry expects to add 3,000MW in 2007

New York, 9 August: The US will add over 3,000MW of wind power capacity in 2007, predicted the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) yesterday, although the group is concerned about turbine shortages.

Last year, 2,454MW of new capacity was installed, bringing the total to 11,600MW, so the additions would increase that to 14,600MW. So far this year, 1,059MW of wind turbines have been installed, according to the Washington, DC-based AWEA, with 935MW of those completed in the second quarter.

Texas led the way, adding 603MW in the second quarter, followed by Illinois (198MW), Colorado (75MW), Iowa (36MW) and New York (20MW).

Texas has the most US capacity, with 3,352MW, followed by California with 2,376MW, Iowa with 967MW, Minnesota with 897MW and Washington State with 818MW.

Manufacturing facilities have also been proliferating in 2007, including a DMI tower plant in Oklahoma, a Knight & Carver blade plant in South Dakota, an LM Glasfiber blade facility in Arkansas, a PPG Industries plant producing fibreglass for blades in North Carolina, a Trinity Structural Towers facility in Illinois and a Vestas turbine plant in Colorado.

However, turbine shortages are stifling growth, the AWEA said. It blames the government's "intermittent policy toward renewables" for discouraging more investment in manufacturing plants. The 1.9 cents/kWh production tax credit (PTC) for renewable energy generation is scheduled to expire at the end of 2008, and AWEA has called for a long-term extension of at least five years.

AWEA also supports a national renewable energy standard (RES) requiring utilities to include green power in their supply mixes. The House of Representatives passed a bill on 5 August that would require renewables to account for 15% of utilities' energy mix (with up to 4% from energy efficiency measures) by 2020. The Senate's energy bill, passed in June, did not include an RES, but the issue will arise in the autumn when the two houses meet in a conference committee to reconcile the measures.