{"id":14273,"date":"2012-03-14T13:04:28","date_gmt":"2012-03-14T19:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sustainablog.org\/?p=14273"},"modified":"2012-03-14T13:04:28","modified_gmt":"2012-03-14T19:04:28","slug":"global-wind-power-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/global-wind-power-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Wind Power Climbs to New Record in 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/p>\n By J. Matthew Roney<\/strong><\/p>\n Wind energy developers installed a record 41,000 megawatts of electricity-generating capacity in 2011, bringing the world total to 238,000 megawatts. With more than 80 countries now harnessing the wind, there is enough installed wind power capacity worldwide to meet the residential electricity needs of 380 million people at the European level of consumption.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n China led all countries in annual wind power gains for the third straight year, installing a jaw-dropping 18,000 megawatts for a total wind capacity of 63,000 megawatts. This country\u2019s rise to the top of the world rankings has been swift: after doubling its wind capacity each year from 2005 to 2009, China surpassed the United States in 2010. (See data at www.earth-policy.org<\/a>.)<\/p>\n China\u2019s ambitious Wind Base program will help ensure a widening lead for some years to come. Across the wind-rich northern provinces, wind mega-complexes of between 10,000 and 38,000 megawatts each are now under construction. By 2020, these “wind bases” will approach 140,000 megawatts of total installed capacity — more than the entire world had at the close of 2008.<\/p>\n As impressive as China’s achievements have been thus far, such rapid growth in capacity has created significant challenges. Badly needed electric grid and transmission upgrades in remote areas lag well behind wind farm completions, meaning that many turbines stand idle. This, combined with growing concerns over the safety and performance of hastily built wind farms, has led regulators to cap the allowed new wind capacity at 15,000\u201320,000 megawatts per year and to make improved project quality and grid access a priority.<\/p>\n Now trailing well behind China, the United States installed 6,800 megawatts of wind generating capacity in 2011. The U.S. wind fleet now totals nearly 47,000 megawatts across 38 states, enough to meet the electricity demand of more than 10 million homes. Another 10,000 megawatts could be on the way in 2012. The outlook for 2013 is not as upbeat, however. If an important tax credit expires at the end of 2012, as scheduled, the industry fears a precipitous drop in new wind capacity. This would put thousands of jobs at risk in what has been a welcome success story in U.S. manufacturing.<\/p>\n Texas, now with 10,400 megawatts installed, has been atop the U.S. wind leaderboard since 2006. Next in line is Iowa, with 4,300 megawatts. In share of electricity generated from wind, Iowa and South Dakota lead at 20 percent each. Texas, home to 25 million people, gets 8 percent of its electricity from wind farms.<\/p>\n As in China, some of the best U.S. wind resources are located in remote areas and require new or upgraded transmission lines to move electricity to population centers. Many long-distance high-voltage transmission projects are under development across the United States to help address this, including four projects proposed by Clean Line Energy Partners in the Midwest<\/a>, South, and West that would transport more than 17,000 megawatts of renewably generated electricity. Clean Line\u2019s \u201cGrain Belt Express,\u201d for example, would allow wind-rich Kansas to export renewable electricity eastward to Missouri, Illinois, and beyond.<\/p>\n With close to 100,000 megawatts of wind capacity, Europe leads all regions of the world. The 9,600 megawatts of wind installed in the European Union (EU) in 2011 accounted for more than 20 percent of the bloc\u2019s new electricity generating capacity. (Solar power provided most of the rest.) Since 2000, the EU has added a net 84,000 megawatts of wind while reducing coal and nuclear power capacity by a net 10,000 and 14,000 megawatts, respectively.<\/p>\nChina: The Global Wind Power Leader<\/h3>\n
Wind Power Growth in the U.S.<\/h3>\n
European Wind Power<\/h3>\n