U.S. fastest growing wind power market

For the third consecutive year, the U.S. was home to the fastest-growing wind power market in the world, according to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Dept. of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

By Consulting Specifying Engineer Staff June 3, 2008

For the third consecutive year, the U.S. was home to the fastest-growing wind power market in the world in 2007, according to a report released May 29 by the U.S. Dept. of Energy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory .n the U.S. in 2007, and more than 200 GW of wind are in various stages of development throughout the country.

The 2007 edition of the “Annual Report on U.S. Wind Power Installation, Cost, and Performance Trends” provides a comprehensive overview of developments in the rapidly evolving U.S. wind power market.ome increasingly difficult,” said author Ryan Wiser, of Berkeley Lab. “Yet, the need for timely, objective information on the industry and its progress has never been greater … this report seeks to fill this need.”

Drawing from a variety of sources, the report—the second in an ongoing annual series—analyzes trends in wind power capacity growth, turbine size, turbine prices, installed project costs, project performance, wind power prices, and how wind prices compare to the price of conventional generation.s.

Some key findings from the just-released 2007 edition include:



•ll told, the new turbine and component manufacturing facilities opened or announced in 2007 alone could create more than 4,700 new jobs in the U.S.
•es of generating technologies.

Berkeley Lab’s contributions to this report were funded by the Wind & Hydropower Technologies Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Additional information is available at:

• https://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/re-pubs.html
• https://eetd.lbl.gov/ea/ems/emp-ppt.html
• https://energy.gov/news/6286.htm