USA Wind Energy in 2012 Gets Flying Start with Three New Farms

USA Wind Energy in  2012 has got off to a flying start with the announcement of 3 new wind farms being announced. While BP and Sempra have announced 2 new wind farms with 560 MW capacity with $1 billion in investment ,a Spanish company will build a 189 MW wind farm . Note 2010 was not a great year for wind energy in the USA though 2011 was better . GE will be the Wind Turbine Company supplying turbines to the BP Wind Farms while Accionia wind turbines will be used by the Spanish company . Note there is a severe competition in the Wind Turbine space with the biggest wind company Vestas facing a possible bankruptcy or consolidation in the future. However wind farm developers are having a good time at the expense of the wind equipment companies as prices of wind turbines reach very low levels. Wind Energy is being installed despite Gas Prices touching new lows below $3 /mmbtu as Utilities look to meet the RPS mandates and possible carbon prices in the future.

Read about the Pros and Cons of Wind Power

Wind Energy in 2010 had ground to a halt in the US after a record 10,000 MW were installed in 2009. The ARRA grants in 2009 which gave a 30% cash grant for wind farm development plus the 2008 pushed out orders led to a path breaking 2009 for Wind Energy in the US . Almost 30% of the total installed capacity in the US was constructed in 2009 alone.Wind Energy accounts for roughly 50  GW of electricity capacity in the US or roughly 5%  of the total 1000 GW capacity.

The Pennsylvania facility is a 141-megawatt wind farm being built by Renewable Energy Systems Ltd.’s U.S. unit that will use 88 1.6-megawatt wind turbines made by General Electric Co., BP and Sempra said. The facility has long-term contracts to sell the electricity to two electric cooperatives.The 419-megawatt Kansas wind farm will use 262 GE wind turbines and will be built by Blattner Energy, BP and Sempra said. The electricity generated will be sold to Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. and American Electric Power Co. unit Southwestern Electric Power Co. under long-term contracts.

NaturEner Wind Farm

The renewable energy company, a subsidiary of Spain-based NaturEner, expects Rim Rock to be operating by October. The power will be shipped on the western power grid, which includes several western states and Alberta and British Columbia in Canada.The wind farm, which would feature 126 Acciona wind turbines, is planned 20 miles northwest of Shelby near Kevin, or about 106 miles north of Great Falls.At 189 megawatts, the facility will produce enough energy to power more than 60,000 homes.