GE Energy has secured contracts to supply more than 750 MW of wind turbines for new 2004-2005 projects in the US, and has received commitments for another 750 MW. In total, the orders and commitments are valued at more than USD 1.3bn. “The federal government’s recent extension of the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) has, again, provided a tremendous impetus for the wind industry in the US,” said Steve Zwolinski, CEO of GE Energy’s wind energy division. “Many leading developers of wind projects now are encouraged to move forward with their plans to significantly increase the country’s supply of wind electricity.” The PTC provides a 1.8-cent per kilowatt hour credit (adjusted annually for inflation) for electricity produced during the first 20 years of a wind project’s operation. With the extension, the PTC will remain in place through December of 2005, and is expected to spur a new wave of wind energy installations across the country. According to American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) executive director Randall Swisher, the extension “means that approximately USD 3bn in wind energy investments forecast over the next several years are now back on track across the country.”
The new contracts announced by GE Energy include projects in Iowa, Minnesota, Idaho, Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon and California.
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