US wind power growth waned in 2002 - report
Date: 27-Jan-03
Country: USA
Author: Timothy Gardner
Total installed wind electric generating capacity expanded by nearly 10 percent in 2002, or 410 megawatts (MW), about the amount of energy produced by one small power plant, according to American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) of Washington, D.C.
The installation of a wind farm atop Backbone Mountain in West Virginia and additions to the Stateline wind farm on the Oregon/Washington border made for some of the gains, enough to power an additional 120,000 average American homes.
But the year's growth was sharply down from 2001, when a record 1,696 MW were installed.
"Most of the loss in growth reflects vagaries of the extension of the tax credit," said AWEA spokeswoman Christine Real de Azua in an interview.
The federal wind energy production tax credit expired in late 2001, and President George W. Bush did not sign an extension until March 11, 2002. The incentive provides a credit of 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour, to be increased by the inflation rate, over the first 10 years of wind projects.
Uncertainty during the months when the credit had expired put many projects on hold, similar to what happened in 1999 when the tax credit also expired temporarily, said Real de Azua.
Wind plants in 27 states across the country now total 4,685 MW, enough to power more than 1.3 million homes.
California leads the nation in wind power with 1822 MW, followed by Texas with 1095 MW, and Iowa with 423 MW.
The wind production current tax credit is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2003. Wind backers hope to include a multiyear tax credit in an overhaul of federal energy legislation.
FPL Energy, a subsidiary of Florida's FPL Group Inc. (FPL.N), is the largest U.S. wind power producer. An FPL spokesman said wind growth slowed last year not only because of the federal tax credit lapse, but also because of last year's upheaval in the electricity sector, which resulted in an overall slowing of power production growth. FPL said it will add between 700 and 1200 MW of new wind generation in 2003, including a 204 MW project in New Mexico.