Announcements of U.S. wind farm projects — on shore and offshore — continued at a strong pace in the first half of 2018.
A windy future Strong demand continues to drive wind power development.
Utilities and Fortune 500 brands both continue to scale up investments in wind energy because it makes good business sense. The cost of wind power has fallen by two-thirds since 2009, making wind cost-competi- tive with other energy sources. In fact, in strong wind resource regions such as the Great Plains and Texas, wind is the most cost-effective source of new electricity, AWEA said. And because wind power has no fuel costs, buyers can lock in low rates for decades to protect against future fuel price spikes. Wind energy customers signed more than 3,500 MW in long-term contracts — power purchase agreements (PPAs) — in the first quar- ter. That’s the highest volume of PPA announcements in any quarter since AWEA began tracking them in 2013. Six companies, including Adobe, AT&T, and Nestle, signed wind PPAs for the first time, while Bloomberg, Facebook, Nike, and T-Mobile became repeat customers. In addition, utility buyers including PacifiCorp and DTE Energy made large-scale announcements to develop and own wind power. Across the country, 36 wind projects representing a combined 5,523 MW announced that they either began construction or entered ad- vanced development in the first quarter. Construction started on 1,366 MW of wind capacity and 4,158 MW entered advanced stages of de- velopment, which includes projects that have found a buyer for their energy, announced a firm turbine order, or have been announced to proceed under utility ownership. The full pipeline of wind farms under
Strong demand for affordable, reliable wind energy drove a busy first quarter for new U.S. wind farm announcements. Wind power’s low cost and stable energy prices motivated utility and non-utility customers to sign contracts for 3,500 megawatts (MW) of U.S. wind capacity in the first quarter of 2018, a high-water mark in recent years, according to a report by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). The U.S. Wind Industry First Quarter 2018 Market Report (www.awea.org/1q2018) also reveals 5,523 MW in first quarter wind project announcements, adding to a total of 33,449 MW of wind power capacity in the combined construction and advanced development pipeline. “Word is out that wind power is an excellent source of affordable, reliable, and clean energy,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA. “Our industry is consistently growing the wind project pipeline as leading companies, including utilities and brands like AT&T and Nestle, keep placing orders. Strong demand for wind power is fueling an economic engine supporting a record 105,500 U.S. wind jobs in farm and factory towns across the nation.”
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csengineermag.com
july 2018
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