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SUGAR LAND--January 29, 2016--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The installed generating capacity of U.S. windfarms surpassed 70 gigawatts (GW) in November 2015, and likely will finish 2015 with an even-greater total, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) (Washington, D.C.). The recent extension of the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) is expected to accelerate that industry's buildout in 2016 and beyond, the group projected.
Windpower accounted for 47% of all new capacity additions in the U.S. last year, far surpassing natural gas (35%) and solar (14%), AWEA added, citing data compiled by SNL Financial (Charlottesville, Virginia). The cost of wind energy has dropped 66% in six years, making wind more competitive with other fuels, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) (Washington, D.C.) found in a study cited by the wind trade group.
"This American wind power success story just gets better," Tom Kiernan, chief executive at AWEA said in a statement. "There's now enough wind power installed to meet the equivalent of total electricity demand in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. Wind energy is the biggest, fastest and cheapest way we can cut carbon pollution here in the U.S., and as wind power grows, so will savings for American families and businesses all across the country."
Industrial Info is tracking 114 active U.S. windpower projects valued at $29.8 billion that are scheduled to kick off construction this year. For 2017, developers have scheduled construction to begin on 140 U.S. projects with total investment value (TIV) of approximately $48.3 billion.
Industrial Info does not expect all of those projects to begin construction according to their schedules. But the front-loaded nature of the PTC extension likely will incent developers to begin constructing their projects sooner rather than later, as the 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour tax credit is reduced 20% each year. Projects that begin construction this year would be eligible for the full credit, but projects kicking off in 2017 and 2018 would only be eligible for 80% and 60% of that credit, respectively. For more information on the PTC extension, see December 21, 2015, article- Renewable, Alternative Energy Industries Cheer Extensions of Tax Credits and January 15, 2016, article- Extension of PTC and ITC Could Bring Some Renewable Energy Projects Back from the Dead.
With generating capacity of 70 GW, windpower accounts for about 6.5% of U.S. electric generating capacity through the end of October 2015, according to the Electric Power Monthly report for October 2015 put out by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytic branch of the DoE. For the first 10 months of 2015, the report added, about 4.4% of all electricity generated in the U.S. came from windpower: 150,908 thousand megawatt-hours (Mwh) out of a total of 3,459,309 thousand Mwh. For the comparable year-earlier period (January-October 2014), EIA said windpower accounted for about 4.3% of all electricity generated in the U.S.
Today's U.S. wind generation capacity of over 70 GW is up about 319% over 2008's installed capacity of 16,702, AWEA noted. The group cited DoE's Wind Vision study, released in March 2015, which projected windpower could account for 10% of generating capacity by 2020 and 20% by 2030. That report said hitting the 2030 target could create 380,000 American jobs, up from 73,000 jobs today. AWEA said the fastest-growing profession in the U.S. is "wind turbine technician," which is growing at twice the rate of the next-fastest growing profession, occupational therapy assistants.
Windpower also is a cost-effective way to meet the goals of the Clean Power Plan (CPP), President Barack Obama's plan to lower carbon dioxide emissions levels in the U.S. In making this claim, AWEA cited a summer 2015 analysis of the CPP by the EIA.
"Windpower continues to be a multi-faceted positive story for the U.S. Power Industry," said Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the global power industry. "The industry is creating jobs and helping reduce power-plant emissions. Ongoing cost reductions stemming from manufacturing advances and leading practices in operations have improved wind's cost competitiveness. Now that the PTC has been extended, we expect the 'next big thing' will be a breakthrough in electric storage, which would allow companies to store electricity from windpower installations when the wind isn't blowing."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.
Windpower accounted for 47% of all new capacity additions in the U.S. last year, far surpassing natural gas (35%) and solar (14%), AWEA added, citing data compiled by SNL Financial (Charlottesville, Virginia). The cost of wind energy has dropped 66% in six years, making wind more competitive with other fuels, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) (Washington, D.C.) found in a study cited by the wind trade group.
"This American wind power success story just gets better," Tom Kiernan, chief executive at AWEA said in a statement. "There's now enough wind power installed to meet the equivalent of total electricity demand in Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. Wind energy is the biggest, fastest and cheapest way we can cut carbon pollution here in the U.S., and as wind power grows, so will savings for American families and businesses all across the country."
Industrial Info is tracking 114 active U.S. windpower projects valued at $29.8 billion that are scheduled to kick off construction this year. For 2017, developers have scheduled construction to begin on 140 U.S. projects with total investment value (TIV) of approximately $48.3 billion.
Industrial Info does not expect all of those projects to begin construction according to their schedules. But the front-loaded nature of the PTC extension likely will incent developers to begin constructing their projects sooner rather than later, as the 2.3 cents per kilowatt-hour tax credit is reduced 20% each year. Projects that begin construction this year would be eligible for the full credit, but projects kicking off in 2017 and 2018 would only be eligible for 80% and 60% of that credit, respectively. For more information on the PTC extension, see December 21, 2015, article- Renewable, Alternative Energy Industries Cheer Extensions of Tax Credits and January 15, 2016, article- Extension of PTC and ITC Could Bring Some Renewable Energy Projects Back from the Dead.
With generating capacity of 70 GW, windpower accounts for about 6.5% of U.S. electric generating capacity through the end of October 2015, according to the Electric Power Monthly report for October 2015 put out by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytic branch of the DoE. For the first 10 months of 2015, the report added, about 4.4% of all electricity generated in the U.S. came from windpower: 150,908 thousand megawatt-hours (Mwh) out of a total of 3,459,309 thousand Mwh. For the comparable year-earlier period (January-October 2014), EIA said windpower accounted for about 4.3% of all electricity generated in the U.S.
Today's U.S. wind generation capacity of over 70 GW is up about 319% over 2008's installed capacity of 16,702, AWEA noted. The group cited DoE's Wind Vision study, released in March 2015, which projected windpower could account for 10% of generating capacity by 2020 and 20% by 2030. That report said hitting the 2030 target could create 380,000 American jobs, up from 73,000 jobs today. AWEA said the fastest-growing profession in the U.S. is "wind turbine technician," which is growing at twice the rate of the next-fastest growing profession, occupational therapy assistants.
Windpower also is a cost-effective way to meet the goals of the Clean Power Plan (CPP), President Barack Obama's plan to lower carbon dioxide emissions levels in the U.S. In making this claim, AWEA cited a summer 2015 analysis of the CPP by the EIA.
"Windpower continues to be a multi-faceted positive story for the U.S. Power Industry," said Britt Burt, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the global power industry. "The industry is creating jobs and helping reduce power-plant emissions. Ongoing cost reductions stemming from manufacturing advances and leading practices in operations have improved wind's cost competitiveness. Now that the PTC has been extended, we expect the 'next big thing' will be a breakthrough in electric storage, which would allow companies to store electricity from windpower installations when the wind isn't blowing."
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.
