BOULDER, CO, Feb 21, 2006 -- MARKET WIRE

 

The rapid growth in renewable energy is being driven by improving economics, technology advances and increasingly favorable government policies according to Global Energy Decisions (Global Energy), a leading provider of energy industry software, intelligence, maps and advisory services.

A new wall map released this week by Global Energy shows installed renewable energy capacity jumped over 25% (19,188 megawatts to 24,020 megawatts) from Jan 2005 to Jan 2006.

Planned projects on the drawing boards increased nearly 35% as well, going from 35,818 megawatts to 48,202 megawatts.

Wind Emerging as the Leader

Of particular note is the increase in wind energy growth. "Renewable Energy: The Bottom Line," a 2005 Global Energy study, found that wind power is the fastest growing renewable technology.

"The economics of wind power are increasingly competitive with building new gas fired power plants," explained Ron McMahan, Global Energy Chairman and CEO.

Wind power capacity increased 35% from 6,540 MW to 8,488 MW and proposed new wind capacity projects rose 28% going from 31,171 megawatts in January, 2005 to 43,065 megawatts in January, 2006.

"Government mandates already in place in 20 states and the District of Columbia require more than 52 GW of renewable generation projects," McMahan explained, "This is triggering a new era in project finance that could drive as much as $53 billion in new investment in the next 15 years."

To see a map of map of the growth in the last year, visit: http://www.globalenergy.com/renewables-map.asp

The new "2006 Renewable Energy" wall map from Global Energy Maps shows the complete renewable energy picture. The map includes: new and existing renewable energy projects, transmission infrastructure, regulatory status, and facility information. Plus, the industry's first comprehensive, nation-wide composite of the latest detailed wind resource measurements.

Details can be found at: http://www.globalenergymaps.com/renewables-map.html

About Global Energy

Global Energy provides energy organizations with solutions based on a common framework of software applications, energy markets data, and advisory services to enable energy professionals to forecast electricity pricing and demand, conduct resource planning, perform strategic studies and competitor analysis, manage risk, trade energy and schedule delivery, and optimize generation performance. Based in Boulder, Colo., Global Energy has over 400 customer relationships worldwide with the industry's leading market participants. More information about Global Energy is available at www.globalenergy.com .

SOURCE: Global Energy Decisions

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