Wind turbines reach for new heights

New Mexico ranks 13th among states for wind-power generation capacity installed in 2014, and 18th for total wind power installed through last year, according to a pair of new reports from the U.S. Department of Energy. After topping out at almost $70/MWh for PPAs executed in 2009, the national average levelized price of wind PPAs that were signed in 2014 fell to around $23.5/MWh nationwide – a new low, but admittedly the price is focused on a sample of projects that largely hail from the lowest-priced Interior region of the U.S. Wind power has comprised 33% of all new U.S. electric capacity additions since 2007.

“Wind energy prices, particularly in the central United States, have hit new lows, with utilities selecting wind as the low cost option”, Berkeley Lab senior scientist Ryan Wiser said. Lower wind turbine prices and installed project costs, along with improvements in expected capacity factors, are enabling aggressive wind power pricing.

Herro said as wind prices continue to decrease, Xcel’s wind power continues to expand. The Department of Energy has envisioned the possibility of getting fully 20 percent of the U.S.’s electricity from wind by 2030.

A separate report released Monday found that distributed wind power, which includes on-site or other small wind power installations, grew by 66 megawatts in 2014, and now accounts for nearly a gigawatt of capacity nationally.

This may help explain why of late, companies ranging from Google to Yahoo to Microsoft have been entering into power purchase agreements with wind farms to help power their energy hungry data centers. When compared to wind in 1998-99, the average nameplate capacity of turbines deployed in the country has jumped by 172% to 1.9 MW in 2014. Less overhead has also intensely improved wind energy’s standing as a competitive alternative to traditional energy sources, and has led to an increase in demand for wind energy from both individual commercial consumers and electric utility companies.

The manufacturing supply chain continued to adjust to swings in domestic demand for wind equipment. Moreover, the profitability of turbine suppliers has generally rebounded over the last two years, after a number of years in decline.

According to two reports released today by the Energy Department, the US wind energy industry continued growing at an impressive rate in 2014, further reinforcing America’s position as a global leader in wind energy. “With an uncertain domestic market after 2016, some manufacturers have been hesitant to commit additional long-term resources to the US market”.