America Is Getting More Power from Renewables than From Nuclear

[OKIsItJustMe]

23. I guess we need a more precise definition of “swamp” and “meager”

That’s why I referenced, “order of magnitude.”

Comparing project to project is not terribly helpful. For example, a small town may erect a wind turbine or 2 (how many small towns will erect a nuclear plant?) Does that mean that nuclear is swamping wind? Or does it mean that wind is swamping nuclear?



http://www.awea.org/newsroom/pressreleases/Top-10_for_2011.cfm

[font face=Times, Serif]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 27, 2011

[font size=5]Top 10 for 2011: Wind power achieves many milestones this year[/font]

[font size=4]Industry gears up for an important coming year with a look back at the newsmaking events of 2011[/font]

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1 – Iowa, South Dakota reach 20 percent wind penetration overall. U.S. wind industry observers no longer need look to Europe for examples of huge wind power penetrations. Both Iowa and South Dakota reached the important milestone of 20 percent of their electricity coming from wind power, a first for the U.S.And more projects are coming.

2 - Xcel Energy shatters wind barrier with 50 percent at one time. While Iowa and South Dakota lead the nation with their 20 percent wind penetration overall benchmark, a utility system in Colorado made some noise on the integration front as well. Investor-owned utility Xcel Energy set a wind power world record on the morning of October 6, when subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado got 55.6 percent of the electricity on its system at one time from wind power, as reported in the Denver Post. The leading utility for wind power on its wires, Xcel Energy is proving once again that large amounts of wind can be successfully integrated onto the grid.

3 - Cost drop: Wind power gets leaner and meaner. Wind turbine prices have dropped sharply in recent years, and a government report released in 2011 highlights that trend with some telling numbers. According to the latest edition of the U.S. Department of Energy's "Wind Technologies Market Report," turbine prices decreased by as much as 33 percent or more between late 2008 and 2010. As discussed in AWEA's most recent industry Annual Report, more efficient U.S.-based manufacturing is saving on transportation, and technology improvements are making turbines better and more efficient.

4 - One-third renewables: California establishes landmark RES. In April, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law legislation that ups the state's renewable electricity standard from an already strong 20 percent to an historic 33 percent by 2020. The renewables standard includes near-term and incremental targets (20 percent by the end of 2013 and 25 percent by the end of 2016), an approach that the wind industry considers to be an important component of RES legislation because it allows the industry to begin ramping up and generating economic development immediately.

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