Published: Sunday, May 2 2010
The slowing US demand for electricity caught up with the US wind sector in the first quarter, when new installations were at their lowest level since 2007.
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) counted a meager 539 megawatts of new capacity, down from more than 3 gigawatts in the first quarter of 2009 – a year that saw a record 10 gigawatts installed. Total US capacity has now exceeded 35.6 gigawatts.
Some 3.3 gigawatts of wind projects are under construction, according to the AWEA, down from about 4 gigawatts at this time in 2009.
The AWEA cites a lack of long-term policy and recession-slowed demand for electricity as the main culprits sapping industry momentum. “
“Financing wind projects is an 18 month process and the struggles in 2009 to raise new capital, combined with lack of new demand from utilities, are now surfacing in the market and reflected in project installations,” says AWEA chief executive Denise Bode in a statement.
She’s none too positive on the outlook for the remainder of the year, citing “minimal new installations and current announcements for project delays or downgrades in 2010”.
The industry is confident that it can move quickly should the right long-term policy signal be sent by Congress. Specifically, AWEA and other renewable energy trade groups are asking for a national renewable energy standard to create a guaranteed market for renewable electricity.
“Dozens of manufacturing companies have already made commitments to build and upgrade US facilities, despite the market’s booms and busts,” the AWEA says in its first quarter report. “These companies have created the foundation for renewing the American manufacturing sector and the US could see explosive growth the instant there is a sign of market stability and US commitment to long term policy.”
Texas, Oregon, Illinois, Kansas, Maine and Massachusetts were the only states to add wind capacity in the first quarter.
Benjamin Romano
Source: http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/wind/article213916.ece
The slowing US demand for electricity caught up with the US wind sector in the first quarter, when new installations were at their lowest level since 2007.
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) counted a meager 539 megawatts of new capacity, down from more than 3 gigawatts in the first quarter of 2009 – a year that saw a record 10 gigawatts installed. Total US capacity has now exceeded 35.6 gigawatts.
Some 3.3 gigawatts of wind projects are under construction, according to the AWEA, down from about 4 gigawatts at this time in 2009.
The AWEA cites a lack of long-term policy and recession-slowed demand for electricity as the main culprits sapping industry momentum. “
“Financing wind projects is an 18 month process and the struggles in 2009 to raise new capital, combined with lack of new demand from utilities, are now surfacing in the market and reflected in project installations,” says AWEA chief executive Denise Bode in a statement.
She’s none too positive on the outlook for the remainder of the year, citing “minimal new installations and current announcements for project delays or downgrades in 2010”.
The industry is confident that it can move quickly should the right long-term policy signal be sent by Congress. Specifically, AWEA and other renewable energy trade groups are asking for a national renewable energy standard to create a guaranteed market for renewable electricity.
“Dozens of manufacturing companies have already made commitments to build and upgrade US facilities, despite the market’s booms and busts,” the AWEA says in its first quarter report. “These companies have created the foundation for renewing the American manufacturing sector and the US could see explosive growth the instant there is a sign of market stability and US commitment to long term policy.”
Texas, Oregon, Illinois, Kansas, Maine and Massachusetts were the only states to add wind capacity in the first quarter.
Benjamin Romano
Source: http://www.rechargenews.com/energy/wind/article213916.ece
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