Facing a stiff wind.

• Author: Roney, J. Matthew
• Position: WORLD WATCHER - Wind power - Column

LEADERSHIP OF THE GLOBAL wind market is changing hands and, once again, it is China overtaking America. The U.S., which is the birthplace of the modem wind industry, has held the top spot in new installations the last half-decade. However, with the credit-crunched U.S. industry sucking wind, so to speak, China is assuming world leadership in annual additions. Having doubled its installed capacity in each of the last five years, this relative newcomer is poised to dominate the wind energy industry for years to come.

Nowhere is China's bid for wind supremacy more evident than in its new Wind Base program. In 2008, the National Energy Administration selected six wind-rich locations as sites for wind mega-complexes of between 10,000 and 30,000 megawatts each. A seventh has since been added to the fist. In August 2009, construction began on the first project, a 13,000-megawatt complex in the northwestern province of Gansu. When completed, these Wind Bases will total more than 110,000 megawatts of capacity, the generating equivalent of 110 coal-fired power plants.

World wind generating capacity has grown enough recently to reach more than 120,000 megawatts worldwide, enough to satisfy the residential electricity needs of nearly 200,000 people. In 2008, the pre-recession U.S. added more than 8,500 megawatts to bring its total capacity to 25,400. This allowed the U.S. to reclaim the top spot in overall capacity-albeit temporarily--after being second to Germany since 1997. China ranked second in new capacity added with 6,300 megawatts and moved into fourth place in terms of total capacity. Rounding out the top five countries in new additions were India, Germany, and Spain.

Traditionally, Germany, Spain, and Denmark--respectively getting seven percent, 12%, and 21% of their electricity from wind--have been the only major players in European wind development, but the market quickly is becoming more diverse, with Italy, France, and the United Kingdom leading a "second wave" of expansion. With their help, wind was the leading source of new power added in the European Union over the last few years.

Wind accounts for about 42% of new electricity generating capacity from all sources in the U.S., second only to natural gas over the last five years. Texas leads all states in total capacity, with just over 9,000 megawatts installed, nearly triple the capacity of second-place Iowa. If Texas were a country, it would be sixth on the list of world wind leaders.

...