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quality, grid stability, automatic generation control, spinning reserve requirements, and ca-
pacity credits. As operating experience with wind power plants accumulates, many of these
early fears are being dispelled.
Since 1980 the installed capacity of wind power plants in the United States has grown
dramatically surpassing 25,000 MW in 2008. This rise was kindled by financial incentives from
federal and state governments and by rising prices for fossil fuels. More of this rapid growth is
expected in the future, as other climate change drives the low carbon and other emission reduc-
tions. A similar process began in Europe in the early 1990s, and installed wind capacity there
grew faster than the United States, driven by clean energy concerns and the lack of indigenous
fossil fuel resources. By the end of 2007, installed capacity in Europe had exceeded 57,100
MW, 61 percent of the global total. World-wide, wind turbines totaling almost 100,000 MW of
capacity are now generating 184 TW-hr of bulk power annually.
A variety of economic projections show that future growth in wind energy production
could be even more dramatic. Figure 13-1 summarizes the findings of a 1990 study conducted
jointly by five National Laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Wind-generated
power totaling 4,000 to 8,000 MW was projected to be on-line by the year 2000 [DOE 1990].
Figure 13-1. Projected contributions of renewable energy sources in the U.S. by the year
2030. Wind power estimates range from 120,000 MW to 200,000 MW, depending on the sce-
nario assumed. [DOE 1990]
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