10 August, 2017
Longer blades in particular helped to boost new wind turbine performance, with wind projects built in 2014 and 2015 reporting a 42.5 percent average capacity factor in 2016, compared to a 32.1 percent capacity factor for projects built between 2004 and 2011.
The December 2015 extension of the federal production tax credit (PTC) for wind power brought on a massive push for wind energy generation, according to the Department of Energy's 2016 Wind Technologies Market Report.
"We started American Wind Week to honor the American innovators who taught the world how to harness the wind for large-scale electricity generation", said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA.
European "strike prices" (winning auction prices for offshore wind bids) have decreased significantly in the past couple years, dropping as low as $65 per megawatt-hour. In 2016, wind supplied about 6 percent of USA electricity.
Xcel Energy has more than 6,600 megawatts of wind energy on its system companywide, representing eight percent of the nation's total wind capacity - enough to power about three million average homes annually.
Wind power supplied about 6 percent of the US electricity demand, and 14 states - including Colorado - got more than 10 percent of their power from the wind, the department said. The offshore wind report was prepared by employees at DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
The new $4.5 billion Oklahoma project called the "Wind Catcher Energy Connection" is expected to be complete by 2020.
Overall, the United States added more than 8.2GW of wind capacity in 2016, representing 27% of all new energy additions a year ago, DoE said. The project consists of five 6-MW GE Haliade turbines and was developed by Deepwater Wind.
Although smaller than offshore projects in other countries, it marks a historic moment in the USA offshore wind industry and has helped accelerate interest in the US offshore wind market.
The U.S. offshore wind project development pipeline now includes over 20 planned projects totaling more than 24,000 MW of potential installed capacity. While many factors affect these auction prices, the recent trend in price declines indicates a reduction in offshore wind costs.
Floating foundation technology is starting to be developed for projects in deeper waters.
ME is also home to the proposed 12-megawatt Aqua Ventus offshore wind project, the agency noted.
As opposed to utility-scale projects, distributed wind installations reached an installed capacity of 992 MW a year ago. "And we aren't about to cede wind power leadership".
Technological innovations are helping wind turbines optimize their performance by reaching stronger, steadier winds, according to the American Wind Energy Association, the primary trade association for the wind power industry. Members include global leaders in wind power and energy development, turbine manufacturing, and component and service suppliers. Gain insight into industry issues on AWEA's blog, Into the Wind.
