U.S. Edges Out Germany as World Wind Power Leader

U.S. Edges Out Germany as World Wind Power Leader

Updated 3:36 PM PST, Fri, Dec 26, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC, December 26, 2008 (ENS) - The national trade association of America's wind industry says in 2008 the industry had another record growth year - the third record year in a row and generated more than $18 billion in revenues.

This year, the United States passed Germany to become the world leader in wind generation, said the American Wind Energy Association in its year-end report.

AWEA says that this summer, the U.S. wind industry reached the 20,000-megawatt installed capacity milestone, doubling installed wind power generating capacity since 2006.

By the end of September, the U.S. had over 21,000 megawatts of wind capacity up and running. Germany had 22,300 megawatts, but U.S. windpower developers sprinted to the end of the year while German wind development slowed.

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United States   305,999,000   December 28, 2008
Germany          82,127,000   June 30, 2008

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Germany is the world’s largest user of wind power with an installed capacity of 22.3 GW in 2007, ahead of USA which had an installed capacity of 16.8 GW. More than 19,460 wind turbines are located in the German federal area and the country has plans to build more wind turbines.
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U.S. becomes "Number One" in wind: During the summer of 2008, the U.S. wind industry launched past the 20,000-megawatt (MW) installed capacity milestone, achieving in two years what had previously taken two decades (the 10,000-MW mark was reached in 2006). Also this summer, the U.S. passed Germany to become the world leader in wind generation. By the end of September, the U.S. had over 21,000 MW of wind capacity up and running. With additional projects coming on line every week since, the wind industry is on its way to charting another record-shattering year of growth. That 21,000 MW of capacity will generate over 60 billion kWh of electricity in 2009, enough to serve over 5.5 million American homes and eliminating the burning of

• 30.4 million short tons of coal (enough to fill two 1,000-mile-long coal trains),
• 91 million barrels of oil per year, or
• 560 Bcf of natural gas (about 9% of the natural gas used for electricity generation).

"Wind energy installations are well ahead of the curve for contributing 20% of the U.S. electric power supply by 2030 as envisioned by the U.S. Department of Energy." -- AWEA Executive Director Randall Swisher

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