WORLD-GENERATION MAY/JUNE 2015 V.27 #2
17
PERSPECTIVE
The wind industry rebounded in 2014
with a record amount of wind under con-
struction.
The 4,854 MW of wind capacity added
during 2014 was more than four times the
small amount installed in 2013.
There was more wind power capacity
under construction at the end of 2014 than
at the end of any other year, with over
12,700 MW across nearly 100 wind proj-
ects under construction. An additional
5,000 MW of project capacity secured
long-term offtake during the year but had
yet to start construction by the end of
2014.
Boom Bust Cycle Continues:
The
lapse of the PTC at the end of 2012 drove
a 92% drop in installations in 2013.
The PTC extension in January 2013
allowed projects that were started in 2013
to qualify, which drove many of the proj-
ects that were completed in 2014. PTC
uncertainty continues with an extension
through the end of 2014 that came only
two weeks before the end of the year.
Wind Jobs Regained:
2014 saw a
rebound of the wind industry jobs that
were lost due to PTC uncertainty in 2013 -
the U.S. wind energy industry added over
22,500 full-time equivalent jobs in 2014,
bringing the total to 73,000. This is a par-
tial rebound from the nearly 30,000 jobs
that were lost in 2013 due to the lapse of
the PTC at the end of 2012.
Wind Benefits Every State:
Over
70% of U.S. Congressional districts have
operational wind energy projects or active
wind-related manufacturing facilities,
with the 73,000 wind industry jobs spread
across all 50 states.
Since 2008, the U.S. wind energy
industry has invested over $100 billion in
new wind power projects.
Costs Plummet:
The cost of wind
energy dropped over 50 percent between
2009 and 2013, with the industry continu-
ing to advance technology in several
areas, from improved siting techniques to
larger rotor diameters and taller towers
that are increasing energy production
across the country and opening up new
regions for development.
Southeast Open for Business:
The
Southeast has long benefited from wind
manufacturing jobs and wind energy pur-
chases from other regions reducing con-
sumers’ electric bills. However, taller tur-
bine towers are raising the prospect of
significant wind development occurring
in the Southeast in the near future. New
NREL wind resources maps released in
2014 indicate the Southeast has excellent
wind resources at heights above 110
meters, which is emerging as the new
frontier for wind development.
Wind Top Source of New U.S.
Generation:
Wind energy was the largest
source of new generation in the U.S. It
was the primary choice for new power in
the wind rich regions of the Midwest,
Pacific Northwest, and Plains states, pro-
viding 60% or more of all new electric gen-
eration capacity between 2011 and 2014.
Wind’s market share was as high as 80%
in the Midwest.
Corporations Want Wind:
Over 23%
of the power purchase agreements signed
during 2014 were with nonutility off-tak-
ers including Amazon, Microsoft, the
General Services Administration (GSA),
Walmart and Yahoo! Many of these com-
panies and organizations explained that
they were attracted by wind energy’s
unique ability to offer stably-priced ener-
gy, given its lack of fuel cost uncertainty.
Record Number of Long Term
Wind Contracts Signed:
More than
13,000 MW of new power purchase agree-
ments were signed in 2013-2014, with util-
ities citing the value of wind for hedging
against fuel price uncertainty, along with
historically low wind prices.
Carbon and Water Savings Greater
Than Previously Thought:
Wind energy
production avoided an estimated 125 mil-
lion metric tons of carbon dioxide during
2014 – more than 5.7% of U.S. power sec-
tor emissions – while avoiding the con-
sumption of over 68 billion gallons of
water. This was estimated with a new tool
that shows these benefits are even greater
than previously thought.
New Transmission Opens New
Areas for Development:
Texas is cur-
rently undergoing a wind boom thanks to
the realization of the Competitive
Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) network
of new transmission lines.
That success will soon be replicated
in SPP and MISO, which have adopted
similar policies for planning and paying
for transmission and are beginning to
build major new transmission upgrades.
New Wind Records Show Wind’s
Reliability:
Three states (Iowa, South
Dakota and Kansas) now reliably gener-
ate more than 20% of their electricity from
wind power. At times, wind energy has
provided more than 60% of electricity on
the main Colorado power system, and
nearly 40% on the main Texas power sys-
tem. Record wind output also helped to
keep the lights on during extreme cold
snaps in January 2014 and 2015.
U.S. Leads World In Wind:
The
U.S. leads the world in wind energy gen-
eration, producing over 181 billion kWh of
wind energy during 2014 or enough elec-
tricity to power over 16.7 million homes.
Tom Kiernan
CEO, AWEA
WIND INDUSTRY REBOUNDS
BY TOM KIERNAN,CLASS OF 2014
