TechPulse 360

The U.S. wind power industry installed 1,649 MW of new capacity in the third quarter with Texas, Oregon and Illinois the top states for new farms.

The additions top those in the same quarter last year and represent an investment of nearly $6.5 billion. The fourth quarter, however, is unlikely to be as impressive. The nation has 5,000 MW of projects under construction compared with 8,000 MW at the same time in 2008, said the American Wind Energy Association.

In the third quarter, growth was fastest in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wyoming and New Mexico. Texas added the most – 436 MW – followed by Oregon, which installed 251 MW.

The country now has 31,000 MW of wind power or enough to power 9 million homes. The top states for installations are Texas, Iowa and California.

Wind farms are blowing new life into the energy market.

In the slow growth world of generating capacity, new wind projects are springing up at a gale-like pace. About 37 offshore projects are under consideration in the U.S. alone.

Better managment practices can bring wind farms a 2.5 percent boost in revenue, says ServusNet's Tadhg Crowley

Onshore, plants are popping up in places such as Wyoming, Texas, Scotland, China and India.

There is common thread among them: inefficiency, says Tadhg Crowley, chief financial officer at ServusNew, an Irish maker of management software for wind farms.

Disruptions from turbine downtime, poor energy forecasting and maintenance work rob farms of revenue as they struggle to become price competitive with oil. “They do know it,” said Crowley in an interview. “They are mindful of the shortcoming.”

Crowley estimates farms can boost their revenue by 2.5 percent if they better manage operations. That could amount to $1.5 million of extra sales for the operator of a 500 MW facility. It may not seem like the end of the world, but  “it’s a meaningful improvement,” he says.

Greater efficiency is a market place need ServusNet hopes its software will fill. Making an accurate prediction of farm output is absolutely critical to optimum performance, he says.