Wind Industry Has Lots of Power

Manufacturing Engineering, Mar 2007

The wind power generating industry is growing in the US. In 2005 capacity increased by 2454 MW of capacity in 2006, a 27% increase over 2005, and is forecast to increase by another 26% this year, according to the American Wind Energy Assn. Investment in wind capacity totaled $4 billion last year.

Wind was one of the largest sources of new power generation in the country in 2006, second only to natural gas for the second year in a row. New wind farms boosted total US installed wind energy capacity to 11,603 MW, enough to produce 31 billion IcWh of electricity and serve 2.9 million homes.

The top five states in new installations were Texas (774 MW), Washington (428 MW), California (212 MW), New York (185 MW), and Minnesota (150 MW). New wind turbine manufacturing plants opened in Iowa, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. Additional manufacturing plants are expected to open this year.