Despite the current economic climate, wind-farm construction and turbine manufacturing are blowing along at surprisingly high rates -- at least for now.
In 2008, the U.S. wind industry hit a new record, installing 8,358 megawatts of new wind-energy capacity at a price tag of $17 billion, according to the American Wind Energy Association, a national trade association.
But the news for wind enthusiasts isn't all good: Investments fell heavily at the end of 2008 as the economy ground to a halt.
"Our numbers are both exciting and sobering," AWEA Chief Executive Officer Denise Bode said in a news release.
They were exciting because last year's growth increased the country's total wind-generating capacity by 50 percent. A number of factors have pushed wind into high gear, including state laws and initiatives, said Dottie Roark, spokeswoman for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, operator of the electric grid in the state, which holds the No. 1 spot for wind-energy production in the nation.
"In Texas, we have a plan to build $5 billion in transmission lines to support 18,000 megawatts of wind," Roark told United Press International. "Companies don't want to build a wind farm if they don't have the lines to get the wind where they can sell it."
With the promise of new transmission lines on the way, though, many companies decided to invest in new farms, Roark said. And invest they did. Wind-energy capacity in the state nearly doubled last year.
State laws requiring that utilities get a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources -- called Renewable Portfolio or Electricity Standards -- have also spurred growth in a number of regions. In fact, 75 percent of the new wind energy installed in 2008 went up in states with RPS or RES laws.
Not only did more wind turbines go up in 2008, but more of their parts came from domestic producers, the AWEA study found.
At the end of 2007, the average turbine installed in the United States relied on foreign manufacturers for about 70 percent of its parts. One year later, U.S. manufacturers were supplying 50 percent of the parts.
However, AWEA's report found that this sector is feeling economic pains.
"We are already seeing layoffs in the area where wind's promise is greatest for our economy: the wind-power manufacturing sector," Bode said.
That's not stopping some manufacturers, though, including GE Energy, the nation's top wind turbine maker in terms of capacity installed.
"We are bullish on renewables, and we continue to invest," said Tom Rumsey of GE Energy's power and water business. "Wind is here to stay."
While some of GE's buyers have delayed or downsized orders, Rumsey said the company isn't worried about selling its product.
"Regardless of the recent economic developments, we know that demand for electricity will continue to grow, that demand will be global and wind energy is the most commercially viable renewable technology to help meet renewable-energy standards around the globe," Rumsey told UPI.
Other companies have announced scale-backs in wind-energy investments, though, including NextEra Energy Resources, the leading U.S. wind farm owner.
"Prior to the third quarter in 2008, we expected to do at least 1,500 megawatts in 2009," said Steve Stengel, spokesman for NextEra. "(Now) we expect to add up to 1,100 megawatts, so we have scaled back our plans."
New developments in the policy arena, though, paint a promising future for the industry, said Christine Real de Azua, AWEA spokeswoman.
"The programs in the stimulus package are not fully in place yet, but the knowledge that they will be is moving projects along," Real de Azua told UPI.
One of those projects is slated to expand an existing facility in LaSalle County, Ill., by 110 megawatts. The companies running the show, Invenergy Wind and GE, plan to tap into expanded tax-credit options made available by the stimulus.
"The availability of stimulus funds paves the way for a new wave of growth for the American wind industry," John Krenicki, president and chief executive of GE Energy, said in a news release about the project.
Despite the wind incentives included in the stimulus, many companies and organizations are rooting for a more long-term renewable-energy policy, particularly an RPS or RES passed at the national level.
"Enacting a national Renewable Electricity Standard is the single most important step that Congress can take to lay the long-term foundation for a 'green-collar' workforce and a domestic renewable-energy manufacturing base," Michael Polsky, president and CEO of Chicago-based Invenergy, said in the release.
Some Washington lawmakers have introduced an RES bill that would require that 25 percent of the nation's electricity come from renewable sources by 2025. Similar bills have been introduced a number of times but have never passed both the House and Senate in the same year.
RES proponents say the standard would boost clean energy and create jobs -- 297,000, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental research group. Others say the plan will unfairly favor some regions of the country over others.
"If there were a national Renewable Portfolio Standard, then the Southeast would be in trouble because they don't have much solar or wind," said Lester Lave, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University. "They have some biomass but not enough to meet the mandate."
Not only that, but integrating a large amount of wind into the grid could create problems because of its intermittent nature, Lave said.
"It does not necessarily blow when you need power," he told UPI. "It blows when it blows."
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