WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Senior executives from four of the world’s top wind turbine manufacturers—GE Energy, Gamesa, Siemens and Vestas—joined today in urging Congress to act promptly to extend the renewable energy production tax credit (PTC). The PTC is now set to expire December 31, 2008, although a one-year extension was recently approved by the Senate.
In a Rose Garden statement last Wednesday, President Bush focused on the problem of climate change. The four executives offered their companies’ perspectives on wind power’s growth potential and called attention to wind power as part of the climate solution at a breakfast meeting convened by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.
The four firms are the largest manufacturers of turbines sold in the U.S. during 2007, as measured by installed generating capacity in megawatts (MW) and number of turbines, as reported by AWEA’s annual survey.
The U.S. has one of the most abundant wind resources of any nation in the world. Industry experts believe wind energy can provide 20 percent of the nation’s electricity needs by the year 2030, creating 500,000 jobs and more than $400 billion net present value in economic benefits, while helping reduce greenhouse emissions and other pollution from the electricity sector.
The wind energy industry has spawned jobs for some 45,000 Americans, including 10,000 new jobs in 2007 alone. In 2007, six new wind manufacturing plants opened (in Illinois, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Texas) and plans for eight more (in Colorado, Iowa, South Dakota, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas) were announced.
The PTC provides an incentive of two cents per kilowatt-hour generated to facilities that produce electricity from renewable energy resources, including wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydropower. The credit can be claimed for 10 years, beginning on the date the qualified facility is placed in service. The facility must begin operation before the credit expires. Previous short-term extensions of the PTC have caused a boom-and-bust cycle in the wind industry, increasing costs along the entire supply chain and keeping businesses from growing to their full potential.
This video shows some highlights of the press conference in Washington DC.
