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US Installed Wind Capacity up 45% in '07

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by tripp, Jan 18, 2008.

  1. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    Yep, the wind industry installed over 5GW of new wind in 2007. In a single year we increased our installed capacity by 45%. We've got an installed capacity of over 16GW now. Imagine what we could do if congress would just pass a long term PTC. For what it's worth, in the hay day of coal plant construction the peak was about 16GW/yr. In the early 80's if I'm not mistaken.

    Full Article
     
    #1 tripp, Jan 18, 2008
  2. sulman

    sulman Introspectator

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    Interesting.
     
    #2 sulman, Jan 18, 2008
  3. Essayons

    Essayons Essayons

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    This is the highlight:
    Report highlights include:
    • Installations in the last quarter of 2007 alone (2,930 MW) surpassed the amount installed in all of 2006 (2,454 MW).
    • Texas consolidates its lead; wind power also expands at a strong pace in Midwest and Northwest. The states with the most cumulative wind power capacity installed are:
    Texas - 4356 MW
    California- 2439 MW
    Minnesota- 1299 MW
    Iowa- 1273 MW
    Washington- 1163 MW


    I think the US has now passed Spain :) the 16GW is around 4 million households powered by wind. But there are many environmentalists fighting wind power on the east coast (Ted Kennedy is on) so there is still alot of NIMBY.
    www.awea.org/Market_Report_Jan08.pdf
     
    #3 Essayons, Jan 18, 2008
  4. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    How much subsidizing is there for all this installation? That's a lot of MW.
     
    #4 FL_Prius_Driver, Jan 18, 2008
  5. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    1.8 cents/kWh or whatever the production tax credit is up to (might be $0.019/kWh now). It's nothing compared to what coal gets in terms of subsidies... not even close.
     
    #5 tripp, Jan 18, 2008
  6. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    Thanks for the info. That's actually lower than I thought. The fuel charge here is 5 cent/kWh so it is getting mighty close to Wind Plants being profitable without the subsidy.
     
    #6 FL_Prius_Driver, Jan 19, 2008
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    they will be more profitable if allowed to expand. as they expand, the support costs are lower. less open land to run wires means smaller wire can be used. run them like telephone poles and the cost drops considerably...

    heck!! paint them rainbow colors if ya have to... team colors for diff cities, whatever... i'd much rather look at them then smog any day!!
     
    #7 DaveinOlyWA, Jan 19, 2008
  8. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    Yeah, wind is still improving and the costs of fossil fuels are rising. The only problem with wind is that it's variable, but here in Colorado it does save us from having to burn a fair amount of NG.

    @ Sulman.... Texas has done a lot right with wind power. They're transmission rules are being looked at by other states as a model for how to get transmission lines out to remote areas. West Texas has HUGE wind "reserves" and the texans are exploiting them and reaping the economic benefits. The ironic thing is that the foundations for this success were laid when dubya was govnah.
     
    #8 tripp, Jan 19, 2008
  9. burritos

    burritos Senior Member

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    This is a good thing, but I get the impression that the owners of these ventures aren't most american:

    NPR : Winds of Change Blow into Roscoe, Texas

    Why aren't American companies doing this? Or are they?
     
    #9 burritos, Jan 19, 2008
  10. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    They are. FPL (Florida Power & Light) actually has a pretty massive wind portfolio and I think they have a fair number of farms in TX. Xcel energy has a fair amount of wind that, I believe, they own and operate. I'll take all comers because there are huge benefits for us either way.
     
    #10 tripp, Jan 19, 2008
  11. drees

    drees Senior Member

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    If Texas keeps this up they will soon be thought of as the "Wind Capital of the USA" instead of being known as the oil capital. Awesome!
     
    #11 drees, Jan 21, 2008
  12. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    They already are and I think that they fancy the idea. They've done some very good work in this area.
     
    #12 tripp, Jan 21, 2008
  13. GreenLady

    GreenLady Member

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    I think Colorado should build more wind farms. It gets pretty windy here (actually, it's pretty windy pretty much anywhere on the Great Plains). :D

    I saw a bit on The Daily Show (I think) where they were "interviewing"/poking fun at Ted Kennedy because he was opposing a project to put some wind turbines off the east coast. The reason? It would "spoil the view" from his seaside mansion. TDS showed a graphic of what the view would look like, and you could barely see the turbines on the horizon. :rolleyes:

    Crap like that is one of the reasons why we're not making strides in wind power. People tend to think of the turbines as eyesores. As if oil rigs and refineries are attractive....
     
    #13 GreenLady, Jan 29, 2008
  14. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i agree...ole teddy preaches like a democrat but realizes his family's republican ways is how his bread is buttered
     
    #14 DaveinOlyWA, Jan 29, 2008
  15. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    He's going to lose that fight. Just a matter of time. He (along with many others) has managed to drag this out for a LOOOONG time, but time ain't on his side.

    Meanwhile, 20GW of wind were installed globally in 2007, a 30% increase from the year before. That's very expansive growth!
     
    #15 tripp, Jan 29, 2008
  16. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    You're right, and we are. You're new to the state right (I thought I read somewhere that you had recently moved from elsewhere)? We've been expanding our renewable mandates and Xcel energy is doing its part. I'd like to see some concentrated solar power plants in the state, but for now more wind is good enough.
     
    #16 tripp, Jan 29, 2008
  17. GreenLady

    GreenLady Member

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    Yeah, we moved here last Christmas. We got a gift subscription to 5280 from our real estate agent, and one issue was about energy production in CO. It was a pretty interesting read. I was pleased to see the expanding renewable energy, BUT oil and gas exploration is expanding too (I think on the western slope??). Incidentally, I've been looking for jobs in the environmental sector, and I've noticed a fair number of jobs for oil/gas permitting.
     
    #17 GreenLady, Jan 29, 2008
  18. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    Yeah, the gas (I don't think there's any oil exporation) industry is going nuts, here and in Wyoming. The gas production is, as you say, predominantly on the western slope. The Roan Plateau is the hot button area right now. It's sorta like the ANWR of Colordao natural gas.
     
    #18 tripp, Jan 29, 2008
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