Data for New Energy Economy Emerging in the United States

U.S. Cumulative Installed Wind Power Capacity, 1980-2008 (table and figure)

U.S. Wind Farms 200 Megawatts or Greater in Operation as of September 2008 (table)

U.S. Cumulative Solar Photovoltaic Production, 1976-2007 (table and figure)

U.S. Ten Largest Solar Photovoltaic Installations as of August 2008 (table)

U.S. Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Plants in Operation as of September 2008 (table)

U.S. Ten Largest Proposed Concentrating Solar Thermal Plants as of September 2008 (table)

U.S. Cumulative Installed Geothermal Power Capacity by State as of August 2008 (table)

U.S. Confirmed Geothermal Projects Under Development as of August 2008 (table)

U.S. Installed Power Capacity Growth Rates by Source, 2000-2007 (table)

U.S. Cumulative Installed Wind Power Capacity, 1980-2008
Year	Net Addition	Cumulative Installed Capacity
	Megawatts
1980		8
1981	10	18
1982	66	84
1983	170	254
1984	399	653
1985	292	945
1986	320	1,265
1987	68	1,333
1988	-102	1,231
1989	101	1,332
1990	152	1,484
1991	225	1,709
1992	-29	1,680
1993	-45	1,635
1994	28	1,663
1995	-51	1,612
1996	2	1,614
1997	-3	1,611
1998	226	1,837
1999	653	2,490
2000	88	2,578
2001	1,697	4,275
2002	410	4,685
2003	1,687	6,372
2004	353	6,725
2005	2,424	9,149
2006	2,426	11,575
2007	5,243	16,818
2008 1	7,500	24,318
1 2008 figure is a projection.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute, with 1980-1999 data from Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2001, CD-ROM (Washington, DC: 2001); 2000-2005 data from Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Global Wind 2006 Report (Brussels: 2007); 2006-2007 data from GWEC, "U.S., China &  Spain Lead World Wind Power Market in 2007," press release (Brussels: 6 February 2008); 2008 projection from American Wind Energy Association, AWEA 2nd Quarter 2008 Market Report (Washington, DC: July 2008).

 

U.S. Wind Farms 200 Megawatts or Greater in Operation as of September 2008 1
Location	Company	Project	Power Capacity	Year of Initial Operation
			Megawatts
Texas	FPL Energy	Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center	736	2005-2006
Texas	AES	Buffalo Gap	524	2005-2008
Texas	Babcock & Brown, Catamount	Sweetwater	505	2003-2007
New York	PPM Energy/Horizon	Maple Ridge Wind Farm	322	2005-2006
Oregon/ Washington	FPL Energy	Stateline Wind Project	300	2001-2002
Texas	FPL Energy	King Mountain Wind Ranch	281	2001-2003
Colorado	FLP Energy	Peetz Table Wind Energy Center	264	2007
Washington	Puget Sound Energy	Wild Horse Wind Power Project	229	2006
Colorado	Babcock & Brown/BP America	Cedar Creek	221	2007
Texas	FPL Energy	Capricorn Ridge	215	2007
Texas	E.On Climate & Renewables	Roscoe	209	2008
Minnesota	enXco	Fenton Wind Power Project	206	2007
Washington	Last Mile Electric Cooperative	White Creek Wind Power Project	205	2007
New Mexico	FPL Energy	New Mexico Wind Energy Center	204	2003
Washington	PPM Energy	Big Horn Wind Power Project	200	2006
1 The wind areas of Tehachapi (699 MW), San Gorgonio (615 MW), and Altamont Pass (542 MW) in California consist of multiple projects with different owners and all projects are smaller than 200 megawatts.
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), U.S. Wind Energy Projects, at www.awea.org/projects, updated 30 June 2008; AWEA, "AES Brings Buffalo Gap 3 Wind Farm Online; Facility Now Totals 524 MW," Wind Energy Weekly, vol. 27, no. 1308, 26 September 2008.

U.S. Cumulative Solar Photovoltaic Production, 1976-2007
Year	Annual Production	Cumulative Production
	Megawatts
1976	0.3	0.3
1977	0.4	0.7
1978	0.8	1.6
1979	1.2	2.8
1980	2.5	5.3
1981	3.5	8.8
1982	5.2	14.0
1983	8.2	22.2
1984	8.0	30.2
1985	7.7	37.9
1986	7.1	45.0
1987	8.7	53.7
1988	11.1	64.8
1989	14.1	78.9
1990	14.8	93.7
1991	17.1	110.8
1992	18.1	128.9
1993	22.4	151.4
1994	25.6	177.0
1995	34.8	211.8
1996	38.9	250.6
1997	51.0	301.6
1998	53.7	355.3
1999	60.8	416.1
2000	75.0	491.1
2001	100.3	591.4
2002	120.6	712.0
2003	103.0	815.0
2004	139.0	954.0
2005	153.1	1,107.1
2006	179.6	1,286.7
2007	266.1	1,552.8
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2004, CD-ROM (Washington, DC: 2005); Prometheus Institute, "23rd Annual Data Collection - Final," PVNews, vol. 26, no. 4 (April 2007), pp. 8-9; Prometheus Institute, "Supply and Demand - Mid-Year Update," PVNews, vol. 27, no. 4 (April 2008), p. 6.

 

U.S. Ten Largest Solar Photovoltaic Installations as of August 2008
Location	Company	Facility	Power Capacity	Year of Initial Operation
			Megawatts
Nevada	SunPower Corporation	Nellis Air Force Base	14.2	2007
Colorado	SunEdison LLC	Alamosa Photovoltaic Solar Plant	8.2	2007
Arizona	Global Solar Energy Inc.	Springerville Generating Station Solar System	4.6	2001-2006
Arizona	APS	Prescott Airport Solar Power Plant	3.5	2002-2005
California	ARCO Solar Inc., Siemens Solar	Rancho Seco Power Plant	3.2	1984-2004
California	SunPower Corporation	Toyota's North American Parts Center	2.3	2008
California	Applied Materials and SunPower Corporation	Applied Materials Corporation	2.1	2008
Colorado	WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corporation	Denver International Airport	2.0	2008
California	WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corporation	Fresno Yosemite International Airport	2.0	2008
California	Solar Integrated Technologies, Inc.	Tesco USA	2.0	2008
Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from PV Resources, Large-Scale Photovoltaic Power Plants, at www.nrel.gov/csp/troughnet/power_plant_data.html, updated 3 May 2008; Nellis Air Force Base, "Nellis Air Force Base Solar Power System," fact sheet (Nevada: 17 January 2008); SunEdison, "Alamosa Solar Facility Begins Generating 3.6 MW of Renewable Energy," press release (Beltsville, MD: 10 September 2007); Tucson Electric Power Company, "Springerville Generating Station Solar System," fact sheet (Tucson, AZ: 1 January 2007); APS, "APS Solar Power Plants," at www.aps.com/my_community/Solar/Solar_4.html, viewed 9 October 2008; Sacramento Municipal Utility District, "SMUD Celebrates 20 Years of Solar Power - Dedicates Expansion of One of the World's First Solar Plants," press release (Sacramento, CA: 24 August 2004); SunPower, "Toyota and SunPower Complete Largest Single-Roof Solar Installation in North America," press release (San Jose, CA: 24 September 2008); SunPower, "Applied Materials Activates Largest Solar Deployment on a Corporate Campus in U.S.," press release (San Jose, CA: 19 September 2008); Denver International Airport, "Nation's Most Visible Solar Array Dedicated at Denver International Airport," press release (Denver, CO: 19 August 2008); Sharp, "Fresno Yosemite International Airport Dedicates 2 MW Solar Array," press release (Mahwah, NJ: 16 July 2008); Solar Integrated, "Solar Integrated Moving Ahead to Complete Tesco USA Project in 2007," Los Angeles, CA: 10 April 2007).

U.S. Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Plants in Operation as of September 2008
Location	Company	Project	Power Capacity	Year of Initial Operation
			Megawatts
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS I	14	1985
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS II	30	1986
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS III	30	1987
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS IV	30	1987
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS V	30	1988
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS VI	30	1989
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS VII	30	1989
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS VIII	80	1990
California	Luz International Ltd.	SEGS IX	80	1991
Arizona	Solargenix Energy	APS Saguaro	1	2006
Nevada	Acciona Energy	Solar One	64	2007
Total			419
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Parabolic Trough Power Plant Data, at www.nrel.gov/csp/troughnet/power_plant_data.html, updated 25 July 2008; Acciona Energy, "CSP - 64 MW Plant in the United States," at www.acciona-energia.com/default.asp?x=0002020401, viewed 6 October 2008.

 

U.S. Ten Largest Proposed Concentrating Solar Thermal Plants as of September 2008 1
Location	Company	Project	Power Capacity 2	Scheduled Year of Completion
			Megawatts
California	Solel Solar Systems, Ltd.	Mojave Solar Park	553	2011
California	Stirling Energy Systems	Solar One	500 (850)	2011
California	BrightSource Energy, Inc.	Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generating System	400 (900)	2011
California	Stirling Energy Systems	Solar Two	300 (900)	not set
Florida	Ausra, Inc.	n.a. 3	300	2011
Arizona	Abengoa Solar	Solana	280	2011
California	Beacon Solar, LLC	Beacon Solar Energy Project	250	2011
California	Harper Lake, LLC	Harper Lake Energy Park	250 (500)	2010
California	eSolar	n.a.	245	2011
California	Ausra, Inc.	Carrizo Energy Solar Farm	177	2010
1 Solar Millennium AG is expected to announce plans in late 2008 to build four 250-megawatt CSP plants in the United States (not included in this list). The plants have been negotiated and development depends on interconnection approval. Operation of the first of the four plants is expected to begin in 2011.
2 Power capacity lists proposed size with possible expansions noted in parentheses.
3 n.a. = not available.
Source: Jonathan G. Dorn, “Solar Thermal Power Coming to a Boil,” Plan B Update (Washington, DC: Earth Policy Institute, 22 July 2008).

U.S. Cumulative Installed Geothermal Power Capacity by State as of August 2008
State	Cumulative Installed Capacity
	Megawatts
California 1	2,555
Nevada	318
Utah	36
Hawaii	35
Idaho	13
Alaska	<1
New Mexico	<1
U.S. Total	2,958
1 Approximately 750 megawatts of the 2,555 megawatts of total installed geothermal capacity is offline, primarily due to declining steam pressure at the Geysers geothermal steam field.
Source: Kara Slack, U.S. Geothermal Power Production and Development Update (Washington, DC: Geothermal Energy Association, 7 August 2008), p. 2.

 

U.S. Confirmed Geothermal Projects Under Development as of August 2008
		Expected Capacity
State	Number of Projects	Low Range	High Range
		Megawatts
Alaska	4	53	100
Arizona	1	2	20
California	20	908	1,017
Colorado	1	10	10
Florida	1	<1	1
Hawaii	2	8	8
Idaho	6	251	326
Nevada	42	1,083	1,902
New Mexico	1	10	10
Oregon	11	297	322
Utah	6	244	244
Washington 1	1	n.a.	n.a.
Wyoming	1	<1	<1
Total	97	2,866	3,960
1 Expected capacity not reported.
Source: Kara Slack, U.S. Geothermal Power Production and Development Update (Washington, DC: Geothermal Energy Association, 7 August 2008), p. 9.

U.S. Installed Power Capacity Growth Rates by Source, 2000-2007
Energy Source	Compound Annual Growth Rate, 2000-2007	Growth Rate, 2006-2007
	Percent	Percent
Wind Power	31	45
Solar Photovoltaics	18	21
Solar Thermal	2	18
Geothermal Power 1	n.a. 2	3
1 2006-2007 growth rate from November 2006 through December 2007.
2 n.a. = not available.
Source: Calculated by Earth Policy Institute from Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Global Wind 2006 Report (Brussels: 2007); GWEC, "U.S., China &  Spain Lead World Wind Power Market in 2007," press release (Brussels: 6 February 2008); Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2004, CD-ROM (Washington, DC: 2005); Prometheus Institute, "23rd Annual Data Collection - Final," PVNews, vol. 26, no. 4 (April 2007), pp. 8-9; Prometheus Institute, "Supply and Demand - Mid-Year Update," PVNews, vol. 27, no. 4 (April 2008), p. 6; U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, U.S. Parabolic Trough Power Plant Data, at www.nrel.gov/csp/troughnet/power_plant_data.html, updated 25 July 2008; Acciona Energy, "CSP - 64 MW Plant in the United States," at www.acciona-energia.com/default.asp?x=0002020401, viewed 6 October 2008; Ruggero Bertani, "World Geothermal Generation in 2007," GHC Bulletin, September 2007, p. 9; Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), Update on US Geothermal Power Production and Development (Washington, DC: 10 November 2006); GEA, Update on US Geothermal Power Production and Development (Washington, DC: 16 January 2008).