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Wind Energy Basics
 Wind power is a reality today. More than 2,400 megawatts of wind generation
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enough to serve more than 650,000 average American homes - was installed in
the United States in 2006 alone. President Bush has stated that wind energy can
provide as much as 20% of the nation's electricity. With continued government
encouragement to accelerate its development, this increasingly competitive
source of energy will provide a steadily growing share of U.S. electricity and
revitalize farms and rural communities - without consuming any natural resource
or emitting any pollution or greenhouse gases. Wind energy works for our
economy, environment, and energy security.
Wind power is a reality today.
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Growing rapidly worldwide on a percentage basis (25% annually from 2002-2006)
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Total installed U.S. wind capacity at year's end 2006 was 11,603 MW, or enough
to serve the equivalent of nearly 3 million average households with 8 million
people
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Globally, 15,197 MW of new wind capacity was added in 2006. Current installed
capacity worldwide at the end of 2005 was 74,223 MW.
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Denmark and some regions of Spain and Germany now have 10% to 25% of
electricity generated from wind power
More than 2,400 megawatts of wind generation - enough to serve more than
650,000 average American homes - was installed in the United States in 2006
alone.
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 About 31 billion kWh of electricity will be generated by wind power in the
U.S. in
2007 (AWEA estimate) - enough for the equivalent of nearly 3 million average
American homes (1 MW of wind generates as much electricity as 250 to 300
average homes use).
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Texas accounted for nearly a third of the new wind power installed in 2006,
taking over the lead from California in cumulative installed capacity for the
first
time since the modern wind industry's inception in 1981. Texas hosts the world's single largest operating wind farm, the 735-MW Horse Hollow Wind Energy
Center, located in Nolan and Taylor counties.
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New wind turbine manufacturing facilities opened in 2006 in Iowa, Minnesota,
and Pennsylvania. Additional announcements are expected in 2007. Investment
in manufacturing capability signals confidence in the market and lays the
groundwork for expanded growth.
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In 2006, new utility-scale turbines were installed in a total of 20 states
across the
country, from Maine to New Mexico to Alaska
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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)
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Sales of small residential turbines also growing
With continued government encouragement to accelerate its development...
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Enact long-term extension of federal wind production tax credit (PTC)
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stable financial environment needed to promote industry's continued growth
(PTC will expire at end of 2008 unless extended). More than $50 billion worth of
wind equipment is now in place worldwide, with another $8-10 billion being
added annually. A long-term, stable PTC would allow companies to plan and
build manufacturing capacity in the U.S. to supply this global market.
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Transmission policy agenda: (1) reform electricity market rules to allow
nondiscriminatory access to transmission system for wind-generated electricity;
(2) targeted upgrades and new transmission lines to remove "bottlenecks" in
existing system; and (3) ultimately, major investment in new transmission - "wind
superhighways" - to tap the immense resources of the Great Plains and West
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Enact national renewables portfolio standard (RPS) of at
least 10% by 2020 -
low-cost, market-friendly way to boost clean energy sources (20 states and
District of Columbia now have RPS policies)
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Provide incentive for purchase of small wind turbines - 30% federal investment
tax credit, state cost-share programs
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Maintain consistent research funding
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Access to low-cost financing
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Federal renewable energy procurement - federal leadership needed in green
power purchases
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State incentives - Texas RPS (5,880 MW of renewables by 2015), New York
RPS (increase renewables from 17% of state's electricity use to 25% by 2012)
and New York government procurement (10% by 2005, 20% by 2010), California
RPS (increase renewables from 12% of state's electricity use to 20% by 2017),
others - can play major role
...this increasingly competitive source of energy...
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With its federal incentive, "large" wind is now in a competitive range (4-7
cents
per kilowatt-hour, depending on the project size and average wind speed at the
site)
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Wind is "inflation-proof" - once a wind plant is built, the cost of energy is
known,
and is not affected by fuel market price volatility
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Technology is steadily improving (rotor blade airfoils specially designed for
wind
turbines, variable-speed generators, power electronics, sophisticated computer
modeling of design changes)
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New, larger turbines (1 MW to 3 MW) generate 120 times as much electricity as
1980s models at one-fifth the cost per unit of output
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Wind plants can be built quickly to respond to electricity shortages
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In windy areas, small wind turbines are most economical self-generation option
...will provide a steadily growing share of U.S. electricity...
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U.S. wind electric generation has more than quadrupled in the last six years,
from enough to serve 650,000 homes in 2000 to enough to serve nearly 3 million
today
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In the last five years, wind power has grown at an average annual rate of 22%
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In the last two years, more new wind generating capacity (4,903 MW) was
installed than in the industry's first 20 years (1981-2000)
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In both 2005 and 2006, wind was the second-largest source of new generating
capacity in the U.S. (trailing only natural gas)
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European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) now believes 100,000 MW of wind
can be installed in Europe by 2010. In the U.S., that much wind capacity could
serve 25 million households with 67 million people.
...and revitalize farms and rural communities...
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A single wind turbine can provide $2,000-$4,000/year per megawatt or more in
farm income even though only 2-5% of the land within wind farm boundary is
used for turbines and access roads.
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Wind power plants can be valuable source of property tax income for local
governments (especially rural counties)
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Wind energy helps diversify income for farmers, ranchers, and other landowners
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Each megawatt of wind provides 2.5-3 job-years of employment
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Wind provides ~1 skilled O&M (operations/maintenance) job for every 10
turbines
installed
...reduce volatility in natural gas prices...
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Natural gas supplies in North America are being depleted
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AWEA estimates that an installed capacity of 11,603 MW of wind power will save
over half a billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (Bcf/day) in 2006,
alleviating a
portion of the supply pressure that is now facing the natural gas industry and
is
creating volatile fuel prices
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The U.S. currently burns about 13 Bcf/day for electricity generation, which
means
during 2007, wind power will be reducing natural gas use for power generation by
approximately 5%
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Expanding wind generation and building "wind superhighways" (see above) is
one of the most cost-effective ways to conserve gas supplies, further reduce
price spikes
...and increase the security of U.S. electricity supply.
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Domestic energy source
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Inexhaustible supply - U.S. winds could generate more electricity in 15 years
than all of Saudi Arabia's oil, without being depleted
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Wind plants consist of small (by utility standards) individual generators
which
cannot easily be damaged at the same time and which are easy to replace
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If a wind plant is damaged, there is no secondary threat to the public (such
as in
the release of radioactivity, explosions, or the breaching of a dam)
...without consuming any natural resource or emitting any greenhouse gases.
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Using more wind energy can save water in the arid western U.S. To generate
the same amount of electricity as a single 1.5-MW wind turbine using either
fossil
fuels or nuclear power requires, on average, withdrawing roughly 90 million
gallons of water a year from streams, rivers, or aquifers, of which nearly 1.5
million gallons is lost to evaporation; generating the same amount with
hydropower means the loss of approximately 75 million gallons a year to
evaporation
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A single 1.5-MW turbine displaces 2,700 tons of carbon dioxide, the primary
global warming pollutant, each year (equivalent to planting 1.5 square miles of
forest), based on the current average U.S. utility fuel mix
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The existing U.S. wind turbine fleet (11,603 MW) displaces more than 19
million
tons of carbon dioxide each year, based on the current average U.S. utility fuel
mix
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To generate the same amount of electricity as one megawatt of wind using the
average U.S. utility fuel mix would mean emissions of 9 tons of sulfur dioxide
and
4 tons of nitrogen oxide each year
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To generate the same amount of electricity as one megawatt of wind for 20
years
would require burning 29,000 tons of coal (a line of 10-ton trucks 11 miles
long)
or 92,000 barrels of oil
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To generate the same amount of electricity as today's U.S. wind turbine fleet
(11,603 MW) would require burning 16 million tons of coal (a line of 10-ton
trucks
over 6,000 miles long) or 50 million barrels of oil each year
...or causing any other significant environmental impact.
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Wind turbines use no fuel; therefore, they require no mining or drilling (one
of the
most damaging environmental impacts of fossil fuels)
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Wind electric generation produces no waste, eliminating all environmental
impacts of waste disposal or storage
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Wind electric generation produces no air pollution, no water pollution and no
global warming pollution
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Pre-construction wind farm site surveys are now standard, reduce threat to
birds
to minimal levels; cats, hunters, glass windows, communications towers are far
more dangerous to birds
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Bat collisions are significant issue only at a few sites where fatalities are
unusually high; industry is helping fund cutting-edge research effort with
leading
bat conservation group aimed at reducing mortality
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Potential habitat (not collision) effect on prairie grouse and grassland
songbirds
is concern in areas of the Midwest and West; efforts to reduce potential impacts
are implemented on a project-by-project basis; industry is funding cooperative
research effort on this issue as well
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Minimal footprint, can be placed on working farms or ranches
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Noise virtually eliminated - a wind turbine a quarter of a mile away is no
noisier
than a kitchen refrigerator
Assumptions:
- 33% average capacity factor assumed for machines installed in 2006.
- 31% average capacity factor assumed for entire turbine fleet
- Average annual household consumption (U.S.) = 10,656 kWh
- 10-ton truck is 20 feet long
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