Wind energy is still important for United States

United States is no longer the world's largest wind energy producer nor the world's largest wind turbine maker, trailing China in both cases. Despite of this, wind energy is still one of the fastest growing renewable energy sectors in the country.  According to 2012 report by the U.S. Department of Energy, 6.8 gigawatts (GW) of new wind power capacity were added to the U.S. grid in 2011, representing a growth of over 30% as compared to 2010.

Wind energy capacity experienced rapid growth in 2012 primarily because of the uncertainty over the extension of the federal tax credit, and it is widely expected that U.S. will add significantly more wind power capacity in 2012 as compared to previous year.

Wind power contributed to 32% of all new U.S. electric capacity additions in 2011, currently representing around 3% of total electricity supply. In 2011, U.S. wind energy sector attracted $14 billion worth of investments.

Wind turbine manufacturing sector is also looking increasingly good because 67% of the equipment used in U.S. wind power projects was being sourced domestically in 2011. There have been however certain fears about manufacturing overcapacity, especially if U.S. Congress fails to extend production tax credit that is set to expire at the end of this year.

One of the reasons why wind power capacity is constantly growing is also the significant decline in wind turbine prices. Within the last 4 years the prices of wind turbines have decreased by 20 to 30%. This means that wind power is becoming increasingly cost-competitive with fossil fuels. New wind turbines are also more efficient as compared to older models.

The main problem with U.S. wind energy industry is the high level of uncertainty for 2013. The major federal incentives are set to expire at the end of this year, and the wind energy developers are rushing to new wind energy projects while they can still count on federal incentives.

The start of the year 2012 will give much clearer picture of how the future of  U.S. wind energy industry will look like.