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eppur_se_muova (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore | Thu Sep-28-06 04:20 PM Response to Reply #2 |
5. and Texas! |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 25, 2006 Contact: Kathy Belyeu (202) 383-2520 Christine Real de Azua (202) 383-2508 AWEA QUARTERLY MARKET REPORT: TEXAS OVERTAKES CALIFORNIA AS TOP WIND ENERGY STATE Record year for new wind still forecast for 2006 As the U.S. wind energy industry stayed on pace for another record year, Texas for the first time supplanted historic leader California as the top state in cumulative wind power capacity, according to the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) Second Quarter Market Report. The report also shows that U.S. developers brought online a capacity total of 822 megawatts (MW) in the first half of the year. With the strong growth, the U.S.’s cumulative wind power capacity surged to 9,971 MW—within close striking distance of the 10-gigawatt (10,000-MW) milestone. (For a listing of projects completed and under construction, see below.) Texas ’s cumulative total now stands at 2,370 MW of capacity—enough to power over 600,000 average American homes—followed by California’s 2,323 MW. Texas edged ahead of California by adding a total of 375 MW, about half of the total amount installed in the country since the beginning of the year. It’s a historic moment. California has led the nation in installed wind capacity uninterruptedly for nearly 25 years, ever since the first wind farms were built there in late 1981, and at one time the Golden State was host to more than 80 percent of the wind capacity in the entire world. However, energy and electricity prices tanked during the global oil glut of the 1980s, putting California’s wind power boom on hold. But Texas by no means has been the lone state busy developing wind power projects. In fact, while Texas took the capacity crown from the perennial state leader, development activity in California has not exactly been dormant, with PPM Energy’s (PPM) 150-MW Shiloh Wind Project in Solano County and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s 24-MW project near Rio Vista coming online earlier in the year. Developers continue their steady advance in project activity while the industry confronts a series of inevitable challenges, one being the interplay between wind turbines and military radar. At AWEA’s annual conference, the WINDPOWER 2006 Conference & Exhibition in June, industry players gathered for a siting panel on military issues, an event that brought together stakeholders from all sides of the radar issue. At the session Lt. Col. William Crowe, chief of airspace for the U.S. Air Force, offered to serve as a point of contact for the industry as the various parties work through the challenges and concerns. Meanwhile, the industry forges ahead, despite delays in some projects due to radar issues. AWEA forecasts that the industry remains on track to install more than 3,000 MW of new wind capacity, which would decisively eclipse the previous record of 2,431 MW set in 2005. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that slightly less than 10,000 MW of new natural gas plants will be brought online in 2006, and that less than 400 MW of new coal- and oil-fired generating plants will be added, making wind power second only to natural gas in new capacity and new power generation for the second year in a row. With this robust climate serving as a backdrop, wind energy leaders are thinking both short- and long-term. At WINDPOWER 2006, AWEA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory committed to develop an action plan focused on providing up to 20% of the nation's electricity from clean, renewable wind energy, the potential of which was highlighted in the Advanced Energy Initiative released by President George W. Bush in February. The process will solicit input from key stakeholders including environmental groups, utilities, policy planners, investors, educators, communities, and others, with the action plan being unveiled at the WINDPOWER 2007 Conference & Exhibition in Los Angeles, Calif., June 3-6, 2007. To reach the 20% benchmark and for the strong industry growth to continue even in the short term, the federal production tax credit, which expires at the end of 2007, needs to be extended in a timely fashion before it expires; furthermore, a long-term extension is needed to allow wind energy businesses to operate and invest in a stable environment and to further reduce costs. Added transmission capacity will also be needed to ship large amounts of power from windy areas to market. “Wind energy works, for America’s economy, environment, and energy security,” commented AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher. “Continuing the federal commitment to this clean energy source will keep us on the road to a sustainable energy future.” Wind Power Projects Completed to Date in 2006 – 822 MW State Project Name Location Capacity (MW) Developer Power Purchaser Turbine Manufac. # of WTs Rating (kW) Alaska Kotzebue Wind Project Kotzebue .066 Kotzebue Electric Association Kotzebue Electric Association Vestas 1 66 Alaska Kotzebue Wind Project Kotzebue 0.15 Kotzebue Electric Association Kotzebue Electric Association Integrity Wind Systems 3 50 California Shiloh Wind Project Solano County 150 enXco, PPM Energy PG&E - 75 MW, Modesto Irrigation District - 50 MW, City of Palo Alto Utilities - 25 MW GE Energy 100 1500 California Solano IIA Rio Vista 24 SMUD SMUD Vestas 8 3000 Colorado Spring Canyon Energy Center Logan County 60 Invenergy Wind Xcel Energy GE Energy 40 1500 Hawaii Hawi Renewable Upolo Point, island of Hawaii 10.56 enXco Hawaiian Electric Light Co. Vestas 16 660 Hawaii Kaheawa Wind Project western slope of Maui 30 UPC Wind Management & Makani Nui Associates Maui Electric Co. GE Energy 20 1500 Massachusetts Hull Wind II Hull 1.8 Hull Municipal Hull Municipal Vestas 1 1800 Massachusetts Buzzards Bay 0.66 Massachusetts Maritime Academy Massachusetts Maritime Academy Vestas 1 660 Minnesota Wolf Wind Farm Nobles County 6.25 Landowner developed Central Minnesota Municipal Power Agency Suzlon 5 1250 Minnesota Minnesota Wind Share Lake Wilson 5.4 Project Resources Corp. Xcel Energy Suzlon 3 1800 Montana Horseshoe Bend Horseshoe Bend 9 Exergy Idaho Power GE Energy 6 1500 New York 2005 Maple Ridge wind farm, (completion) Lewis County 61.05 PPM Energy & Horizon Wind Energy NYSERDA/market Vestas 37 1650 New York Maple Ridge wind farm, phase I a Lewis County 33 PPM Energy & Horizon Wind Energy NYSERDA/market Vestas 20 1650 North Dakota Wilton Wind Farm (completion) Burleigh County 18 FPL Energy Basin Electric GE Energy 12 1500 North Dakota Velva Wind Farm Velva 11.88 Global Renewable Energy Partners/Acciona Energia Xcel Energy Vestas 18 660 Ohio Great Lakes Science Center Cleveland 0.225 Leadership Cleveland and Sustainable Cleveland Great Lakes Science Center Vestas 1 225 Pennsylvania Bear Creek Wind Farm Luzerne County 24 Community Energy Inc./ Global Wind Harvest/ CH Energy Group PPL Energy Gamesa 12 2000 Rhode Island Portsmouth Abbey School Wind Turbine Portsmouth 0.66 Portsmouth Abbey School Portsmouth Abbey School Vestas 1 660 Texas Horse Hollow expansion Taylor County 3 FPL Energy GE Energy 2 1500 Texas Horse Hollow III Taylor County 223.5 FPL Energy GE Energy 149 1500 Texas Horse Hollow II Taylor County 64.4 FPL Energy Siemens 28 2300 Texas Red Canyon Wind Energy Borden, Garza and Scurry Counties 84 FPL Energy various GE Energy 56 1500 Wind Power Projects Currently Under Construction (not a comprehensive list)* State Project Name Location Capacity (MW) Developer Power Purchaser Turbine Manufac. # of WTs Rating (kW) Illinois Twin Groves I McLean County 198 Horizon Wind Energy 120 1650 Kansas Spearville Wind Energy Facility near Dodge City 100.5 enXco Kansas City Power & Light GE Energy 67 1500 Michigan Noble Thumb Wind Park Huron County 48 Noble Environmental Power Consumers Energy GE Energy 32 1500 Maine Mars Hill Aroostook county 42 Evergreen Windpower (subsidiary of UPC Wind Partners) GE Energy 28 1500 Massachusetts Town of Orleans Wind Project Town of Orleans 3.3 Vestas 2 1650 Minnesota St. Olaf Wind Project Northfield 1.65 St. Olaf College Vestas 1 1650 Minnesota East Ridge Wind Farm Lincoln County 10 Edison Mission Group Northern States Power Suzlon 8 1250 Minnesota Bingham Lake Wind Farm Bingham Lake 15 Edison Mission Group Alliant Energy Suzlon 12 1250 Missouri Bluegrass Ridge Project Gentry County in northwest Missouri 33.6 Wind Capital Group Associated Electric Cooperative Suzlon 16 2100 New York Maple Ridge wind farm, phase II Lewis County 90.75 PPM Energy & Horizon Wind Energy NYSERDA/ market Vestas 75 1650 Oregon Leaning Juniper near Arlington, Gilliam County 100.5 PPM Energy GE Energy 67 1500 Texas Forest Creek Glasscock and Sterling Counties, near Abilene 125 Airtricity/RGI TXU Wholesale Siemens 54 2300 Texas JD Wind IV panhandle 79.8 John Deere Credit/Distributed Wind Systems Suzlon 38 2100 Texas Lone Star Wind Project 200 Horizon Wind Energy Washington Big Horn Wind Power Project near Bickleton, Klickitat County 199.5 PPM Energy Modesto-Santa Clara-Redding Public Power Agency (M-S-R) GE Energy 133 1500 Washington Wild Horse Wind Power Project Whisky Dick Mountain, Kittitas County 228.6 Horizon/Puget Sound Energy Puget Sound Energy Vestas 127 1800 * The cumulative total capacity should be considered provisional; moreover, the listing of projects under construction should be considered only a sampling of such projects around the country and is not intended to be comprehensive. For more information about existing wind farms and those under construction, go to AWEA’s project database at http://www.awea.org/projects. Please send any project information to Kathy Belyeu at Kbelyeu@awea.org. 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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