Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 2-4
Wind-power capacity plans in the U.S.A., current and near future. (Source: NREL/IEA Wind
Energy Annual Report, 1995.)
About 90 percent of the usable wind resource in the U.S.A. lies in the Great
Plains. In Minnesota, Northern States Power Company started installing
100 MW wind-power capacity with a plan to expand to at least 425 MW by
2002. Several contractors working with the National Renewable Energy Lab-
oratory are negotiating power purchase agreements with utilities for
4,200 MW of wind capacity at an estimated $2 billion capital investment.
The Energy Information Administration estimates that the U.S. wind
capacity will reach 12,000 MW by 2015. Out of this capacity, utilities and
wind-power developers have announced plans for more than 4,200 MW of
new capacity in 15 states by 2006. The 1.5 cents per kWh federal tax credit
that took effect January 1, 1994, is certainly helping the renewables.
State legislators in Minnesota have encouraged the wind power develop-
ment by mandating that Northern States Power Company acquire 425 MW
of wind generation by 2002. After commissioning a 25 MW wind plant in
the Buffalo Ridge Lake Benton area in southwestern Minnesota near Holland,
the Northern States Power is now committed to develop up to 100 MW of
wind capacity over the next few years in the same area. This area has good
steady wind and is accessible to the transmission lines. To support this
program, the state has funded the “Wind Smith” education program at junior
colleges to properly train the work force with required skills in installing,
operating, and repairing the wind power plants.
