Power of the Wind

The wind industry is currently exploding in the United States with over $2 billion invested each year. Commercial grade wind power started in this country over 60 years ago with a wind turbine mounted on Grandpa’s Knob in Vermont generating power for the local utility during WWII. Since that time, fossil fueled and nuclear plants have replaced wind as the most efficient generators of electrical power.

However, starting with the energy crises of the late 1970s, countries and companies rediscovered the benefits of generating power from wind energy. While the U.S. is catching up, it is the European countries that have taken the lead in installing wind generation.

In the U.S., there are approximately 8,000 megawatts (MW) of installed wind capacity. However, since total power demand in the U.S. is approximately 800 gigawatts (GW), wind power represents less than 1% of current generation. As seen in the European model, even very small national grids can support more than 10% of the power coming from wind energy.

In 2006, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) estimates that as many as 3,000 new megawatts of generation will be installed. In fact, the AWEA estimates that the wind industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25% per year for the next 10 years.