GEC PRESSROOM WIND

IGEC Shades of Green Initiative

Wind|Solar|Nuclear|Hydro-Electric

Wind Facts

• The Department of Energy states that all U.S. electrical energy needs could be met by the wind in Texas and the Dakotas alone.
• Wind power is a growing industry in the United States. Latest American Wind Energy Association figures show that installed U.S. wind power capacity now exceeds
  11,600 MW which is enough to serve three million average households.[Texas is
  firmly established as the leader in wind power development, followed by California.
• Wind power in the United States is a growing industry. As of January 2007 the United States wind power capacity exceeded 11,600 MW which is enough to serve three million average households.
• The wind industry installed 1,524 turbines in 2006, with a total generating capacity
  of 2,454 MW, bringing the average capacity to 1.6 MW. With 764 units installed, the
  GE Energy 1.5-MW turbine is still the most widely installed. The second most widely installed in 2006 is the Siemens 2.3-MW, with 249 units installed.
• The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a goal of obtaining 6% of U.S. electricity from wind by 2020.
• The AWEA’s outlook forsees that it can supply 20% by 2030. This is inclusive of
  340 GW of new wind capacity by 2030, reaching 248 GW of capacity by 2025.
• New York leads the tri-state region with eight wind-power installations generating a total of 390 mega watts of wind energy . Pennsylvania is second with 179MW and New Jersey's only wind farm--in Atlantic City--generates 8 MW. The largest wind states are Texas (3352 MW), California (2376) and Iowa (976).
• A 1.8 megawatt wind turbine produces enough power to supply the electricity needs of 500 homes.
• As many as 215,000 new jobs would be created by adding 50,000 MW of new wind installations in the U.S. - a $50 billion investment that could provide electricity for as many as 15 million homes with 39 million people.
• In 2007 $23 billion dollars worth of new wind generators went online across the world, lifting total capacity by a quarter to more than 74 gigawatts, according to industry figures.
  

China

• The strong winds that blow through China's arid northern plains could be harnessed to help reduce the nation's carbon-dioxide emissions and help lead the fight against pollution.
• China, which ranked 10th two years ago in terms of annual installed wind mills, now is number five after the United States, Germany, India and Spain, with rapid industry growth expected to catapult it to second spot by 2008.

Wind Power Myths vs. Facts <<click here>>

WIND ENERGY PRODUCTION TAX CREDIT (PTC)
<<<click here>>