US Companies Start Cashing in on Next Wind Power Expansion
EarthVision Environmental News
September 6, 2000
WASHINGTON, September 6, 2000 - Recent announcements by two US manufacturers that they are expecting increased business building towers for wind turbine generators underline the economic potential of clean energy, says the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
Baird Industries of Shreveport, Louisiana, a subsidiary of Industrial Holdings, Inc. (IHI), recently received an order for wind turbine towers valued "in excess of $55 million," while Trinity Industries of Dallas, Texas, said it is creating a new subsidiary, Trinity Structural Towers, Inc., to compete for business in the fast-growing industry.
Wind energy was the world's fastest-growing energy source during the 1990s, with an annual average growth rate of over 25 percent, and its pace has accelerated in recent years. AWEA currently expects US installed wind generating capacity to increase by 40 to 60 percent by the end of next year - an increase that would amount to approximately $1 billion to $1.5 billion in new construction.
"American industry and American workers and farmers are finally beginning to cash in on the promise of wind energy," said AWEA executive director Randall Swisher, "and recent runups in the prices of oil and natural gas have helped to emphasize the value of wind - an energy source whose 'fuel' is free and therefore immune to speculation in the energy markets.
"The Great Plains states, from Minnesota to Texas to Wyoming, are a vast 'Saudi Arabia of wind,' where many billions of dollars worth of wind equipment will someday be installed to generate electricity without air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions."
FPL Energy LLC, a major wind energy developer, placed the order with Beaird Industries. It calls for Beaird to fabricate up to 800 wind turbine towers, each 50 meters in height, by November 2001. The first 242 towers are slated for an FPL project in West Texas. Beaird has also sought and received certification from a leading certification agency, Germany's Germanischer Lloyd, for the tower design.
Trinity Industries said in announcing the decision to create its new tower-building subsidiary that it, too, had recently booked its "first major order from a wind turbine manufacturer for the supply of towers," adding, "Wind turbines are a significant component in renewable energy and worldwide capital expenditures for this market in 2001 are expected to be strong."
"With wind energy's costs continuing to decline," said Swisher, "and fossil fuel prices spiking, we are moving into a takeoff phase for wind energy in the US. The wind energy industry is proof that economic growth and preservation of the environment can go hand in hand."
© 2000 by the American Wind Energy Association. May be freely distributed provided this notice is included. All other rights reserved.