The U.S. saw about 10,000 megawatts in wind capacity added in 2009, or about the same as three new nuclear plants, according to the 2009 U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report (PDF) from the American Wind Energy Association.
Here are some more highlights from the report:
- U.S. wind power capacity is more than 35,000 MW.
- New wind power projects accounted for 39 percent of all new U.S. electricity generating capacity in 2009.
- Wind energy provided about 1.8 percent of U.S. power last year.
- There are 36 states that have utility scale wind power projects.
- With more than 1,000 MW of wind capacity installed, 14 states are in the "Gigawatt Club."
Some businesses, such as Adobe, SC Johnson and Dow Corning, are using wind turbines at their operations.
As for small wind turbines of less than 100 kilowatts - the kind that might be installed by a small- to medium-sized business - 2009 saw 15 percent more units sold. Those 10,000-some units resulted in about 20 MW of new capacity. (see image below)
