U.S. wind energy industry added 1.833 GW of new installations in the third quarter in The Windfair Newsletter

This raises cumulative U.S. wind power capacity installations to 51,630 MW through the end of September 2012. There are currently over 8,430 MW under construction across 29 states plus Puerto Rico.

Projects Online Third Quarter 2012:

• The U.S. wind industry installed 1,832.7 MW during the third quarter of 2012 bringing the total U.S. wind power capacity installations to 51,630 MW and 2012 installations to 4,728 MW

• The U.S. wind industry installed 40% more MW during the first three quarters of 2012 than the first three quarters of 2011 and the third quarter saw a 52% spike from the third quarter of 2011

• Kansas led the way in new installations during the third quarter of 2012 , followed by OR, TX, OK and NV Nevada became the 39th state with utility-scale wind installations this quarter; Pennsylvania became the 15th state with more than 1,000 MW

• The 954 turbines installed during the third quarter of 2012 had an average capacity of 1.92 MW. Year-to-date, there have been 4,728 turbines installed with an average capacity of 2.00 MW

• Twenty-seven projects were installed across 15 states during the third quarter of 2012

• Turbines from 9 different manufacturers, ranging from 750 kW to 2.3 MW were installed

• At least 40 utilities own or have contracted wind from projects currently online through the third quarter of 2012

Projects Under Construction:

• There are currently over 8,430 MW under construction across 29 states and Puerto Rico

• While the third quarter remained one of the top quarters for projects under construction, it saw less than 100 MW of new construction starts

• Every region in the U.S. has more under construction and online in 2012 than they installed in all of 2011

• Top states for under construction activity include Texas (1,291 MW), California (1,022 MW), Kansas (836 MW), Oklahoma (734 MW), Iowa (597 MW), Colorado (496 MW), Illinois (480 MW) and Michigan (472 MW).

• In total, 17 states and Puerto Rico have at least 100 MW under construction

• There are more than 4,360 turbines under construction from 15 different turbine manufacturers ranging in size from 750 kW to 3.6 MW

• Over 40,000 wind turbines across the U.S. can now produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of all the homes in Michigan, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada, AWEA says.

• The year-to-date total stood at 4.728 GW at the end of the quarter – up 40% from the same time last year. The average turbine size installed throughout the year continues to hover around 2.0 MW.

According to the AWEA report, the top state for installed new wind energy capacity during the third quarter was Kansas, which added 473 MW and is on track to more than double its wind capacity this year, followed by Oregon (333 MW), Texas (281 MW), Oklahoma (229 MW) and Nevada (152 MW).

Across 29 states and Puerto Rico, there are currently more than 8.43 GW of wind projects under construction – a record for this time in the year.

Texas leads the nation in wind projects under construction, with 1.291 GW under way, followed by California (1.022 GW), Kansas (836 MW), Oklahoma (734 MW), Iowa (597 MW), Colorado (496 MW), Illinois (480 MW) and Michigan (472 MW).

In total, 10 states are on track to add at least 500 MW of wind power this year, with Texas, California, Kansas and Oklahoma on track to add over 1 GW each.

AWEA points out that over 80% of the new capacity coming online or under construction is covered by a long-term power offtake agreement, either through a power purchase agreement between a utility and a wind developer or through direct utility ownership. In fact, projects online through the third quarter and under construction are either owned by or have contracted power with 68 different utilities.

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