Wind Power Outlook for 2006 - installation of 3,000 megaWatts expected

[JohnWxy]

http://www.awea.org/newsroom/releases/US_Wind_Energy_Installations_Milestone_081006.html

click on Wind Energy Outlook 2006

Fuel costs have been rising: Natural gas (which accounts for about 18% of U.S.
electricity generation) and oil (3%) have seen the most dramatic increases. Coal
(50%) is entering a period of higher prices as well–even Powder River
and Uinta Basin coal from Wyoming is expected to rise in price because of
higher demand for its low sulfur content. The price of uranium for nuclear
power generation has also increased considerably over the past fi ve years.
Platts, a major market analysis firm, “conservatively estimates that generating
electricity from renewable sources can ultimately save consumers more than
0.5 cent/kWh by eliminating fuel price risk.” That is approximately 10% of
wholesale electricity price.

Wind power development helps ease the natural gas shortage in particular
(wind power often displaces gas-fi red power because that is currently the most
expensive). In 2006, U.S. wind farms will generate an estimated 25 billion
kWh, saving over half a billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (0.5 Bcf/day).


Green Power Programs: Sold Out!


Homeowners, businesses, municipalities and other electricity customers are eagerly purchasing wind
and renewable energy from “green power” programs—especially if the product is exempt from fuel increase surcharges and allows them to lock in the stable price of wind power.

In the West and Midwest, utility Xcel Energy signed up 15 times more Windsource customers and chalked up a waiting list of more than 1,100 after receiving publicity about the fact that the price for its wind power product - which does not reflect fuel price surcharges - would dip below that of conventional electricity due to higher natural gas prices. Other utilities with popular, fi xed-price, largely wind-based green power programs include Austin Energy, OG&E in Oklahoma, and We Energies in Wisconsin. The number of large companies, organizations, and agencies purchasing green power also continues to grow: the Starbucks coffee chain announced a large wind power purchase in 2005, and in early 2006 the grocery chain Whole Foods Market purchased wind power for 100% of its operations. According to the EPA Green Power Partnership, as of January 2006, the U.S. Air Force was the largest purchaser of green power, followed by Whole Foods, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Johnson & Johnson, and the U.S Department of Energy.

[FogerRox]

1. breeze of the future.... KNR

[lindisfarne]

2. 10,000 MW = power for 2.5 million homes ... and some more stats

from link in OP
U.S. wind energy installations now exceed 10,000 megawatts (MW) in generating capacity, and produce enough electricity on a typical day to power the equivalent of over 2.5 million homes, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced today. A megawatt of wind power generates enough to serve 250 to 300 average homes.

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Environmental benefits:

Less global warming pollution: Today’s 10,000 MW of wind power are keeping 16 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2), the leading greenhouse gas associated with global warming, out of the air EVERY YEAR. That’s equivalent to the amount of CO 2 that would be absorbed by over 9,000 square miles of forest, an area about the size of Vermont.
Better air quality: If the same amount of electricity as that generated by America’s 10,000-MW wind turbine fleet were instead produced using the average utility fuel mix, it would emit 73,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 27,000 tons of nitrogen oxide per year, as well as other pollutants such as mercury.
Energy security benefits:

Saving fuel: Today’s 10,000 MW of wind power saves about 0.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/day), or about 3.5% of the natural gas used nationwide to generate electricity.