USA - Wind Industry Installs Over 1,600 MW in Third Quarter

The U.S. wind industry installed 1,649 MW of new power generating capacity between July and September, exceeding both the previous quarter as well as the third quarter of last year, AWEA said in its most recent quarterly market report.

The third-quarter numbers bring the year’s total to over 5,800 MW, while the installed wind power capacity in the U.S. now stands at over 31,000 MW. That amount can generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of nearly 9 million homes, avoiding the emissions of 57 million tons of carbon annually and reducing expected carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2.5%.

While AWEA said the deployment numbers are a clear sign that the U.S. Treasury grant program under the economic stimulus package is working, the increased wind farm activity has yet to trickle down to the manufacturing segment of the industry. Manufacturing continues to lag behind wind farm development and build-out, largely because turbine demand is still being satiated by existing supply and units already ordered. New manufacturing activity is down by about a third, AWEA said in its report. There were 24 new, announced, or expanded manufacturing facilities through the third quarter of 2009, compared to 36 at this time last year. Thus, the strong deployment activity “hasn’t translated into [new manufacturing] just yet,” said AWEA Director of Industry Data & Analysis Elizabeth Salerno, speaking this week on a market report Webinar.

Nevertheless, the project finance side has improved significantly since the beginning of the year. Salerno pointed out that the consensus at AWEA’s recent Wind Energy Finance & Investment Workshop was, “You are able to raise capital and get a deal done.”

Since the early July announcement of rules to implement the stimulus bill, the wind industry has seen over 1,700 MW of construction starts. The construction starts, together with the 1,649 MW completed in the third quarter, equate to about $6.5 billion in new investment.

AWEA does not expect the fourth quarter of 2009 to be as strong as last year’s fourth quarter since the 5,000 MW now under construction is nearly 38% lower than the over 8,000 MW under construction at this time last year. Nevertheless, the year is promising to be a strong one. “We expect this year to be the second strongest year for the industry, behind only 2008,” said AWEA Manager of Industry Information Kathy Belyeu, speaking on the Webinar.

Salerno noted that the mid-term policy requirement for strong industry growth—specifically, a national renewable energy standard—has yet to be implemented.

“Wind power installations are up, and that is good news for America’s economy, environment, and energy security,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “But manufacturing, which has the potential to employ many more Americans in good, clean energy jobs, remains uncertain. A firm, long-term national commitment to renewable energy is still needed for the U.S. to become a wind turbine manufacturing powerhouse and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

The full Q3 market report is available on the AWEA website at www.awea.org/publications/reports/3Q09.pdf .

For more information please contact Trevor Sievert at ts@windfair.net