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Wind power in USA and its limitations
The U.S. has installed nearly 3 GW of wind power during the first three months of 2009. America is moving full steam ahead, but it will face the same problems that Spain, have encountered, with the integration of wind electricity into the national grid and, because of the size of the country, even bigger problems could arise.
According to the Associated Press, the United States has become the largest generator of wind power in the world. 42 percent of the eolic power added to the U.S. grid during 2008, came from wind energy. But, as more MW have been added to the grid, getting the electricity from wind swept areas to where people live, has become a crucial issue.
"In some ways we're reaching the glass ceiling," said Rob Gramlich, vice president of policy at the American Wind Energy Association.
The nation´s grid is aging, often overloaded and, in the case of states like Wyoming or North Dakota, which are some of the best areas to install wind turbines, not sufficiently large to bring electricity to the places where there is a big demand.
The wind industry says that, in order to further expand its wind farms, it requires 19,000 miles of new high voltage lines, at a cost of about 0 billion. This obstacle, according to Gramlich, could prevent President Obama from reaching his goal of generating 25% of electricity through renewable sources, by 2025. He added, "It's hard to see how we could get beyond 5 percent of electricity from renewables without a change in transmission policy."
Building these lines is complicated. According to Associated Press, it may take five years or more to expand the grid. Most of the time is needed for issues such as funding and searching for good sites. There are many parties involved: the electricity producers, the buyers, the states, the local governments, the landowners ... they all have something to say about where the power lines must cross through.
