The U.S. wind power market remains strong thanks to sustained low prices, rapidly increasing wind energy generation, and growing corporate demand.
We’ve come a long way since the late 1880s when wind power was first captured to produce electricity.
Charles F. Brush, an innovator from Ohio, used a 12-kilowatt wind turbine to generate power for his home east of downtown Cleveland. His business, Brush Electric Company, later consolidated with other pioneering electric companies to form the industrial giant General Electric.
Fast-forward more than 100 years to today, and the wind industry has grown by leaps and bounds from Brush’s backyard operation. According to the Energy Department’s new 2015 Wind Technologies Market Report, the total installed wind power capacity from turbines rated at more than 100 kilowatts (utility-scale) in the United States grew at an impressive rate of 12% in 2015 and stands at nearly 74 gigawatts, meeting 5.6% of U.S. end-use electricity demand in an average year. The nearly 8.6 gigawatts of capacity installed during 2015 represents a 77% increase over total installations in 2014. Additionally, more than 4,300 utility-scale wind turbines were installed across 64 projects in 20 states in 2015, bringing the total fleet to more than 48,500 operating utility-scale wind turbines in 40 states and Puerto Rico. According to the 2015 Distributed Wind Market Report, about 75,000 small and distributed wind turbines reside across all 50 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Overall, wind energy in America has the capacity to power more than 19 million homes.
The U.S. wind power market remains strong thanks to sustained low prices, rapidly increasing wind energy generation, and growing corporate demand. In 2015, the wind energy sector supported roughly 88,000 jobs across the country and investments grew to $14.5 billion within the U.S. economy, proving that more deployment is on the horizon. Texas continues to lead the way in both annual and cumulative capacity installations, while Iowa derives almost one-third of its electricity from wind.
After much success in Europe, the United States remains poised to join the offshore wind market. With construction well underway off the coast of Rhode Island, Deepwater Wind’s Block Island offshore wind farm leads the way with a 30-megawatt (MW) wind farm that will provide power to the island’s residents and the mainland. Energy Department-funded offshore wind demonstration projects are on deck for the coasts of New Jersey, Maine, and in Lake Erie. As an early innovator of utilizing wind energy for electricity, Brush would be excited to see the Great Lakes project take flight in his old backyard. Six 3.45-MW turbines on so-called Mono Bucket foundations make up the project – also known as “Project Icebreaker” – and are slated to spin in the near future seven miles off the coast of Cleveland, thanks in part to funding from the Energy Department. The innovative Mono Bucket foundations will reduce installation time, costs, and environmental impacts compared with traditional offshore wind installation foundations that require pile driving.
The two reports released today provide an annual update on the current state of wind energy in the United States, complementing two major reports released by the Energy Department last year that take a comprehensive look at the potential for future wind energy growth. The Wind Vision report quantifies the economic, social, and environmental benefits of a robust wind energy future through 2050. Enabling Wind Power Nationwide analyzes the potential for continued wind industry growth in all 50 states, as wind turbines with taller towers and larger rotors make wind economically viable nationwide. Both reports paint a promising and bright future for wind energy.
Learn more about the current and future developments of the wind industry by reading our two annual wind power market reports, which we released today. The 2015 Distributed Wind Market Report, authored by researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, provides insight into wind turbines that supply power directly to the local grid near homes, farms, businesses, and communities, primarily through smaller-scale projects. The other, titled the 2015 Wind Technologies Market Report, was written by staff at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and provides a comprehensive look at the utility-scale wind sector and growing our nation’s wind energy potential.
