Wind power has been the fastest growing energy technology in the world for the last decade, and U.S. wind capacity is expected to increase by 50% by the end of 2001. What are the factors driving that growth? 1) Wind energy's increasingly attractive economics is perhaps the most important factor, with the costs of wind having declined almost 90% since the early 1980s. Technology changes have played a critical role in driving down costs. Today, major wind projects are being built in Texas that will generate electricity at costs competitive with those of a new natural gas plant. 2) State policy leadership has played a key role in moving wind into the U.S. market, and Minnesota, Iowa, and Texas have been the three states that have contributed the most new wind capacity over the last decade. 3) Competition in the electric industry has driven more and more utilities to recognize that many customers care about the environmental attributes of electric power. More than 190 utilities or power suppliers are now offering a wind-energy based electricity product. 4) The electric utility industry's perspective on wind has become more favorable as wind has been more widely deployed around the country. While California and Hawaii were the only states with significant wind capacity in the mid-1980s, there are 26 states with at least pilot utility-scale wind installations now planned or in place. 5) Wind and gas are complementary resources, but wind is emerging as perhaps the most promising nongas alternative for the electric industry. Gas has been the electric industry fuel of choice in recent years, but as the price of gas has soared over the past year, a growing number of utilities are finding it attractive to diversify their portfolio with wind. 6) Finally, the wind production tax credit is now scheduled to expire at the end of 2001. Many utilities that are favorably disposed toward wind are moving to ensure that their planned projects come on line prior to the expiration of the credit. Small wind turbines, which range in size from 300 W to 100 kW of capacity, have also been enjoying a steadily increasing market. Small wind turbines, which have many applications ranging from off-grid to grid-connected to hybrid systems, are cost-competitive with diesel systems while offering substantial environmental advantages.
The AWEA announced several Award winners at the ‘Windpower 2000’ conference in Palm Springs, California. The winners received their awards from outgoing AWEA President Robert Gates. Walt Musial and Sandy Butterfield, both of the National Wind Technology Center, jointly won the Technical Achievement Award. Musial and the National Wind Technology Center test team were honored “for developing a capability at the National Wind Technology Center to provide blade and drive train structural component testing to the U.S. wind industry”. Butterfield was recognized “for successfully overseeing development of a U.S.-based certification program.” The National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) is situated in a spectacular setting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, in the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site buffer zone in Golden, Colorado. A few turbines of varying sizes and models can be glimpsed on the open plateau from Route 128 out of Golden. However the small number of turbines belies the importance of this center for the wind power industry. Most of the NWTC's work is carried out indoors, in hangars and computer labs which make it one of the world's unique testing centers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.