This report summarized that wind energy provides about 5% of the nation’s total electricity generation with 65 gigawatts (GW) deployed. There are utility-scale installations in 39 states.DOE further analyzed the potential for expanding use of wind nationwide:
- Continued advancements in turbine technology will enable wind to be a true nationwide economic resource;
- Market trends and technological innovations are increasingly unlocking cost-effective wind in regions with more moderate wind resources;
- If the current 80-m hub heights were increased to 110-m or 140-m, the technical potential for wind deployment is estimated to grow to 4.3 or 4.6 million square kilometers, which represents a 54% or 64% increase, respectively.
- Pursuing more moderate resource quality sites can and should be done in coordination with the broad stakeholder community for wind to coexist with the environment and federal and state agency missions.
This report also analyzed possible geographic expansion, the current state of wind technology, transportation considerations, and details future technology pathways.
Source: http://www.energy.gov/eere/wind/downloads/enabling-wind-power-nationwide