Today’s facts come from a recent news item on the Energy Department’s website detailing the growth of wind power in 2011. A PDF of the report is available online.
- According to the 2011 Wind Technologies Market Report, the United States remained one of the world’s largest and fastest growing wind markets in 2011, with wind power representing a remarkable 32 percent of all new electric capacity additions in the United States last year and accounting for $14 billion in new investment.
- Nearly seventy percent of the equipment installed at U.S. wind farms last year is now from domestic manufacturers, doubling from 35 percent in 2005.
- The report finds that in 2011, roughly 6,800 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity was added to the U.S. grid, a 31 percent increase from 2010 installations. The United States’ wind power capacity reached 47,000 MW by the end of 2011 and has since grown to 50,000 MW, enough electricity to power 13 million homes annually or as many as in Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Virginia, Alabama, and Connecticut combined.
- The country’s cumulative installed wind energy capacity grew 16 percent from 2010, and has increased more than 18-fold since 2000. The report also finds that six states now meet more than 10 percent of their total electricity needs with wind power.
- For new wind projects deployed last year, the price of wind under long-term power purchase contracts with utilities averaged 40 percent lower than in 2010 and about 50 percent lower than in 2009.
The Department of Energy has put out an infographic depicting some of the findings:
Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art
