The U.S. industry added 395 MW of wind power capacity in the third quarter of this year, making it the slowest quarter since 2007, according to the American Wind Energy Association's (AWEA) Third Quarter Market Report.
Year-to-date installations stood at 1,634 MW, down 72% from 2009. This year, wind projects in the U.S. are being installed at half the rate as in Europe, and one-third of the rate as in China, according to AWEA.
Factors for the slowdown include lack of long-term U.S. energy policies, such as a renewable electricity standard, and resulting lack of certainty for business.
Government policies that support renewable energy are already in place in China and Europe, resulting in more than $35 billion of expected investment in 2010, according to AWEA.
‘We're increasing our dependence on fossil fuels, impacting our national security, instead of diversifying our portfolio to include more renewables,’ says Denise Bode, CEO of AWEA.
Swift, short-term action to extend tax credits for renewable energy in 2009 helped boost the U.S. wind industry to historic job growth and a high of 10,010 MW in new capacity last year.
‘Technology investments have improved the cost-competitiveness of wind power dramatically, making it an even better investment for the country,’ says Vic Abate, vice president of renewables for GE Energy and chairman of AWEA's board of directors. ‘Dozens of manufacturing companies are looking to set up shop in the U.S., but they need the wind industry to provide demand for their products. This opportunity is on the verge of being lost without strong policies.’
Bode notes that domestic content of U.S. wind turbines has steadily increased, with nearly 400 facilities in the U.S. manufacturing components for wind turbines, aided by a degree of stability of the production tax credit, the support of a refundable tax credit under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and state requirements for renewable energy.
Other third-quarter results include the following:
– Total utility-scale wind capacity installed in the U.S. through September 2010 reached 36,698 MW.
– Approximately 4,700 MW of projects have started construction in the past six months.
– Over 10 new requests for proposals for utility-scale wind projects were issued in the quarter.
– At least nine new wind projects signed long-term power purchase agreements in the third quarter, which will result in over 700 MW of new wind capacity if all the projects come to fruition.
SOURCE: American Wind Energy Association
