US wind expansion

12 August 2009

The US wind energy industry installed 1,210MW of new power generating capacity in the second quarter, bringing the total added this year to just over 4,000MW – an amount larger than the 2,900MW added in the first six months of 2008.

But the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said it was also seeing a reduced number of orders and lower level of activity in manufacturing of wind turbines and their components.

Denise Bode, chief executive officer at AWEA, said: 'The numbers are in, and while they show the industry has been swimming upstream, adding some 4,000MW over the past six months, the fact is that we could be delivering so much more.'

During the second quarter, the US wind energy industry completed a total of 1,210MW in 10 states, enough to power the equivalent of about 350,000 homes. These new installations nudge total US wind power generating capacity to 29,440MW, according to the AWEA.

The US wind power generating fleet now offsets an average of 54 million tons of carbon annually, reducing carbon emissions from the electricity sector by two per cent, or the equivalent of taking nine million cars off the road.

The state posting the fastest growth in the second quarter was Missouri, where wind power installations expanded by 90 per cent. Pennsylvania and South Dakota ranked second and third in terms of growth rate in the second quarter, expanding by 28 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.

A full report analysing the second-quarter growth is available on the AWEA website here.

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