The U.S. wind energy industry continues to grow according to two new reports from the DOE that show turbine installations rising and wind electricity costs dropping in 2014. The 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report verifies that power capacity grew by 8% and reached 66 GW, second in the world for installed capacity. Additionally, the renewable resource provides 4.9% of end-use electricity demand per average year and the findings note that prices are competitive with wholesale power prices and traditional power sources in many areas.
The 2014 Distributed Wind Market Report, also released by the DOE, shows that turbines in distributed applications have reached a cumulative capacity of over 90 MW – enough to provide power to around 168,000 homes. Distributed installations directly supply power to local energy grids, and the 74,000 turbines in the U.S. provide power to off-grid homes, farms, schools, and manufacturing facilities.
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