10 Gigawatts of wind power (AWEA)

[eppur_se_muova]

http://www.awea.org/projects/


TOTAL INSTALLED U.S. WIND ENERGY CAPACITY: 10,039 MW as of July 31, 2006

http://www.awea.org/newsroom/releases/US_Wind_Energy_Installations_Milestone_081006.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 14, 2006
Contact:
Kathy Belyeu [phone]
Christine Real de Azua [phone]


U.S. WIND ENERGY INSTALLATIONS REACH NEW MILESTONE

Record growth generates economic, environmental, energy security benefits as wind
capacity reaches 10,000 megawatts

U.S. wind energy installations now exceed 10,000 megawatts (MW) in generating
capacity, and produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of
over 2.5 million homes, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced
today. A megawatt of wind power generates enough to serve 250 to 300 average
homes.

“Wind energy is providing new electricity supplies that work for our
country’s economy, environment, and energy security,” said AWEA
Executive Director Randall Swisher. “With its current performance, wind
energy is demonstrating that it could rapidly become an important part of the
nation’s power portfolio.”

The record growth in wind power is driven by demand for the popular energy source
and concerns over fuel price volatility and supply. It was also made possible by a
timely renewal of the production tax credit (PTC), a federal incentive extended in the
Energy Policy Act signed a year ago by President Bush. Previously, the credit had been
allowed to expire three times in seven years, and this uncertainty discouraged
investment in wind turbine manufacturing in the country. AWEA is calling for a
long-term extension of the PTC before its scheduled expiration at the end of 2007 to
avoid further “on-again-off-again”cycles and encourage long-term
investment.

The industry is gaining momentum as it grows. The first commercial wind farms were
constructed in California in the early 1980s, and after reaching 1,000 MW in 1985, it
took more than a decade for wind to reach the 2,000-MW mark, in 1999. Since then,
however, installed capacity has grown fivefold (for a chart showing historical
cumulative capacity, see http://www.awea.org/faq/instcap.html). Today, the industry
is installing more wind power in a single year (3,000 MW expected in 2006) than the
amount operating in the entire country in 2000 (2,500 MW).

As the U.S. wind energy industry sails past the 10,000-megawatt mark, AWEA
released the following figures and statistics to illustrate some of the economic,
environmental, and energy security benefits of wind power development.

Economic benefits:

Supplying electricity: Wind was the second-largest source of new power
generation in the country in 2005 after natural gas, and is likely be so again in
2006, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Creating jobs: Wind turbine manufacturing companies have recently opened
facilities in Iowa (Clipper Windpower), Minnesota (Suzlon), and Pennsylvania
(Gamesa), and wind turbine orders are creating jobs all the way down the supply
chain, sometimes in areas that do not have a large wind resource, such as
Louisiana.

Environmental benefits:

Less global warming pollution: Today’s 10,000 MW of wind power are
keeping 16 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2), the leading greenhouse gas
associated with global warming, out of the air EVERY YEAR. That’s
equivalent to the amount of CO 2 that would be absorbed by over 9,000 square
miles of forest, an area about the size of Vermont.

Better air quality: If the same amount of electricity as that generated by
America’s 10,000-MW wind turbine fleet were instead produced using
the average utility fuel mix, it would emit 73,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and
27,000 tons of nitrogen oxide per year, as well as other pollutants such as
mercury.

Energy security benefits:

Saving fuel: Today’s 10,000 MW of wind power saves about 0.6 billion
cubic feet per day (bcf/day), or about 3.5% of the natural gas used nationwide to
generate electricity.

Domestic, inexhaustible energy source: America’s wind resource
potential is vast--theoretically more than twice enough to meet current U.S.
electricity supply. President Bush said earlier this year that wind could meet
20% of the country’s electricity supply (the share that nuclear power
provides today).

More figures and statistics on the 10,000-megawatt milestone are available on the
AWEA Web site at www.awea.org/10GW.html .

AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy
industry. The association's membership includes turbine manufacturers, wind project
developers, utilities, academicians, and interested individuals. More information on
wind energy is available at the AWEA web site: www.awea.org.

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