According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the U.S. wind industry defied earlier expectations and experienced a bumper year in 2009.
Adding nearly 10,000 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity last year, wind power placed alongside natural gas as the leading source of new electricity generation for the nation. The two accounted for approximately 80% of the new capacity added in the USA last year.
What makes the figures even more remarkable is that early last year, prior to the Recovery Act (ARRA), the industry anticipated that in 2009 wind power development might drop by as much as 50% from 2008 levels, with equivalent job losses.
However, the AWEA warned that U.S. wind turbine manufacturing, what it terms “the canary in the mine” was down compared to 2008 levels, and needs hard targets in the form of a national Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) to “seize the historic opportunity we have today to build up a thriving renewable energy industry.”
The 9,922 MW installed last year saw the nation’s number of wind farms grow by 39% and bring total wind power generating capacity in the U.S to over 35,000 MW. The five-year average annual growth rate for the industry is now 39%, up from 32% between 2003 and 2008.
Wind farm facilities currently in operation generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 9.7 million homes, will conserve approximately 90 billion litres of water each year and avoid an estimated 62 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to taking 10.5 million cars off the road.
Texas remains the USA’s wind power leader with 9,410 MW of installed capacity. Washington has pulled ahead of Minnesota in the ranking of the top five states by wind power installed.
The full American Wind Energy Association Q4 report is available here (PDF)
