World Wind Watch | Green Energy News

January 13, 2002 – Vol.6 No.42

WORLD WIND WATCH.

The first year of the Third Millennium saw global wind generating capacity grow by 31 percent to 23,300 megawatts - enough power for more than 23 million people according to the Earth Policy Institute.

The U.S. alone saw an additional 1694 megawatts installed last year at an investment of $1.7 billion. Total wind capacity in the States is now 4258 megawatts, this according to the America Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

Germany is still the world leader in wind capacity at 8000 megawatts, 1890 of which were installed in 2001. The U.S is in spot number 2 while Spain with 3300 megawatts is in third. Fourth place goes to Denmark with 2500 megawatts installed. Denmark gets 18 percent of its power from the wind, according to the Earth Policy Institute.

Earth Policy also indicates that wind resources in just three states - North Dakota, Kansas and Texas - could satisfy the electric power needs of the whole United States. The AWEA is quite a bit more conservative, saying the U.S could have 20 percent of its power generated by the wind - all resources combined.

The cost of wind-produced electricity keeps dropping, too. A good windy site with state-of-the-art megawatt-class turbines can produce power at 4 cents per kilowatt hour - nearly competitive with conventional energy sources.

Wind power is already off to a good start this year as well.

-- According to wire reports Vestas Wind Systems of Denmark is saying it will finally build a U.S. turbine factory. Plans are to build in Portland, Oregon where eventually employment could reach 700.

-- British utility Powergen is considering a 500 megawatt offshore facility near the mouth of the Thames.

-- Proyectos Eolicos Valencianos, a subsidiary of ENDESA Cogeneracion y Renovables, has been awarded a contract to install 498 megawatts in the Valencia region of Spain. Turbines for three sites will be supplied by Spanish turbine manufacturer MADE.

-- Also in Spain U.S. based TXU, along with 4 partners, will develop two sites in Aragon with a combined capacity of 99 megawatts.

-- At their jointly owned Nerefco oil refinery near Rotterdam, BP and ChevronTexaco will build a 22.5 megawatt wind facility. Power be will sold to the grid, not used in refining operations.

-- Two companies - NoordzeeWind and North Sea Wind Power - are in neck-to-neck competition to build a 100-megawatt facility off the coast of The Netherlands.

-- In Norway, Norsk Hydro is planning a 40 megawatt facility at Havoeygavlen.

-- Greece will have 46 megawatts of new wind energy in place when fifty-one 900 kilowatt turbines from NEG - Micon, also of Denmark, are installed by International Wind Parks of Thrace and Wind Parks of Thrace.

-- Even residents of Tokyo, Japan will have a small fraction of their power generated by the wind. The city is planning to install two turbines on reclaimed land in Tokyo Bay later this year.

If all the above projects included in this story are built, there will be more than 1300 megawatts of new emission-free power on the planet - enough electricity for daily needs of more than 1.3 million people.

It is now the middle of the first month of the new year.

Visit the Earth Policy Institute at http://www.earth-policy.org/ and the AWEA at http://www.awea.org/ .