Iowa leads the nation in wind power jobs

The state with the highest number of jobs in wind manufacturing is Iowa while  Texas has the most wind capacity installed and the most wind farms.

So says the annual wind industry market report just released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).In spite of a slowdown in wind turbine manufacturing in 2009, 10 new manufacturing facilities came online in the U.S. last year. Another 20 were announced, and nine facilities expanded.  The largest category of manufacturing was wind turbine sub-components, such as bearings, electrical components and hydraulic systems.  In all, AWEA says the U.S. wind energy industry opened, announced or expanded over 100 facilities in the past three years (2007- 2009), bringing the total of wind turbine component manufacturing facilities now operating in the U.S. to over 200.

Other highlights from the report: The U.S. wind energy industry installed over 10,000 MW of new wind power generating capacity in 2009, the largest year in U.S. history. In industry rankings, GE Energy remained #1 in U.S. wind turbine sales; NextEra Energy Resources continued to lead in wind farm ownership; and Xcel Energy continued to lead utilities in wind power usage. 

There are 36 states that have utility-scale wind projects and 14 states are in the "Gigawatt Club" with more than 1,000 MW of installed wind capacity per state. And despite the economic downturn, the demand for small wind systems for residential and small business use (rated capacity of 100 kW or less) grew 15% in 2009, adding 20 MW of generating capacity to the nation.  Seven small wind turbine manufacturing facilities were opened, announced or expanded in 2009.

A free copy of the report can be viewed here: http://www.awea.org/reports/Annual_Market_Report_Press_Release_Teaser.pdf