North American Windpower: Bloomberg: 2012 U.S. Wind Installations Topped 13 GW

by NAW Staff on Monday 21 January 2013

The U.S. wind industry installed a record 13.2 GW of new nameplate generating capacity in 2012, with a surge of new installations coming in the last month of the year, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). December 2012 alone saw 5.5 GW installed - by far the most ever in a single month - as developers rushed to bring projects to completion ahead of expiration of the federal production tax credit.

According to BNEF, the 2012 capacity addition represented more than a 102% increase over 2011′s number, when the industry installed 6.5 GW. Including 2012, U.S. wind projects now account for 60 GW of total cumulative capacity, comprising 6% of the country’s overall electricity generating capacity.

BNEF also notes that the leading wind developers behind the 2012 numbers were NextEra Energy Resources (1.5 GW new capacity added), Caithness Energy (0.8 GW) and BP (0.8 GW). Turbine manufacturers that were the greatest beneficiaries of these installations were GE (4.5 GW of turbines sold to 2012 U.S. wind projects), Siemens (2.9 GW) and Vestas (2.2 GW).

According to BNEF, the leading states to complete projects were:

California (1,738 MW)
Kansas (1,589)
Texas (1,532)
Oklahoma (1,224)
Oregon (845)
Illinois (803)
Iowa (790)
Michigan (700)
Pennsylvania (568)
Colorado (496)

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