U.S. expects record year for wind installations
WASHINGTON, DC, US, May 4, 2005 (Refocus Weekly)
The wind energy industry in the United States will install 2,500 MW of new capacity this year, according to a revised estimate from the American Wind Energy Association.
This would boost the national capacity beyond the current level of 6,800 MW
of turbines, and would eclipse the previous record year of 2001, when 1,696 MW
was installed.
A private survey of intentions by wind turbine manufacturers prompted AWEA to
raise its forecast from the earlier prediction of 2,000 MW. Other factors
include the decision by Gamesa of Spain to build a blade manufacturing plant in
Pennsylvania, which will create 1,000 new jobs over the next five years.
In addition, blade manufacturer LM Glasfiber has added 100 new jobs at its plant
in North Dakota since the production tax credit was extended last October and it
expects to hire 50 more workers by June. Turbine manufacturer Vestas-American
Wind Technology is also advertising for 100 new positions.
A report in March said New York would create 43,000 new jobs in manufacturing
and energy industries as a result of the state’s requirement that electric
utilities boost the amount of power they obtain from wind and other renewables
from 20% now to 25% by 2013. Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has called for
3,000 MW of new windfarms by 2012 which would create 1,000 new jobs over two
years, while the current construction of four windfarms will create 730 jobs in
total.
Each megawatt of wind capacity generates sufficient electricity for 300 homes,
so the revised forecast translates to a supply for 700,000 homes.
“We are seeing a series of positive trends, from new major players entering
the industry to strong economic activity in hard-hit rural areas, and we
continue to press for a timely long-term extension of the federal wind energy
production tax credit so that this latest boom can continue,” says Randall
Swisher of AWEA. "With its energy, economic and environmental benefits,
wind is the technology that is ready today to power America's future."
The federal PTC expires at the end of this year, and the U.S. Congress has
allowed it to lapse three times in recent years.
"More states are looking seriously at wind energy these days as an engine
of economic development, and what they are seeing confirms a major study
released last fall by the Renewable Energy Policy Project,” adds Swisher. That
report estimated that an increase in U.S. wind capacity from 6,000 MW to 50,000
MW would create 150,000 manufacturing jobs.
AWEA was formed in 1974 to promote the U.S. wind energy industry.
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