Handful of major corporations make up half of Q1 wind contracts

April 30, 2015 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Already-strong growth in the U.S. wind industry accelerated during the first quarter of 2015. The numbers bear that out with a near-record 13,600 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity under construction across 100 projects in 23 states, according to a report by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

Credit: London Rachel, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The wind industry completed 131 MW of generating capacity in the first quarter (traditionally the slowest quarter of the year for completions), the report reveals, in which wind turbines were installed across three projects in different states with most of the new capacity installed in Texas (110 MW), followed by Iowa (20 MW) and New York (1 MW).

Wind developers also reported 1,200 MW of new construction activity in the first quarter of 2015 for projects that were previously under development, contributing to the more than 13,600 MW of total capacity under construction as of March 31.

Texas has the most wind under construction with more than 7,800 MW being built, most of it connected to the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) transmission lines in West Texas. Rounding out the top five are Oklahoma with more than 890 MW under construction, Kansas with more than 870 MW, New Mexico with 680 MW, and North Dakota with over 530 MW, according to AWEA.

During the first quarter of 2015, the market continued to expand for stably-priced wind energy with successful companies, electric cooperatives and other non-utility groups signing 750 MW of new power purchase agreements for wind power, adding to the roughly 11,300 MW of power purchase agreements signed during 2013-2014.

Four companies accounted for more than half of the 750 MW of wind power contracted in the first quarter of 2015 -- Dow Chemical (200 MW), Walmart (50 MW), Kaiser Permanente (43 MW), and Google Energy (43 MW).

The Q1 2015 numbers demonstrate that the "immediate future for the wind industry is bright," according to the report's author Hannah Hunt, AWEA research analyst.

"We're just getting this bounce back started," said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA. "Over $23 billion worth of new wind farms is in development now, and more will follow as we work to double American wind power by 2020."

But the industry cannot go it alone, according to Kiernan. Congress must extend the Production Tax Credit (PTC) to continue providing a stable business environment, he contends.

"No one wants to throw a promising American industry off a cliff," Kiernan said, "but that's what could happen to future development unless the PTC is extended."

For more:
- see this background article

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/handful-major-corporations-make-half-q1-wind-contracts/2015-04-30