WASHINGTON DC – America’s wind power workforce installed 908 utility-scale turbines in the first quarter of 2017, totaling 2,000 megawatts of capacity, enough electricity to power 500,000 average homes, a new report contends.
The American Wind Energy Association said the first quarter was the wind industry’s strongest start in eight years. The statistics are contained in a report released Tuesday called American Wind Energy Association.
New wind turbine installations in the first quarter spanned the U.S. from Rhode Island and North Carolina to Oregon and Hawaii. Great Plains states Texas (724 MW), and Kansas (481 MW), led the pack.
“We switched on more megawatts in the first quarter than in the first three quarters of last year combined,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA, in releasing the U.S. Wind Industry First Quarter 2017 Market Report. “Each new modern wind turbine supports 44 years of full-time employment over its lifespan, so the turbines we installed in just these three months represent nearly 40,000 job years for American workers.”
Texas continues as the overall national leader for wind power capacity, with 21,000 MW installed, enough to power more than 5 million average homes. North Carolina became the 41st state to harness wind power, bringing online the first wind farm to be built in the Southeast in 12 years.
