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Wind power in Washington

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Wind Turbines above Walla Walla River in Washington

At the end of 2015, the installed capacity of wind power in Washington was 3,075 megawatts (MW) with wind power accounting for 7,101 GWh.[1] In 2016, it reached a generation of 8,041 GWh, comprising 7.1% of the electricity generated in the state.[2] In 2023, it had a capacity of 3,407 MW (with another 600MW under construction), responsible for 7.75% of generation.[3]

State legislative support

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Wind resource map at 50 m above ground

Initiative 937 requires electric utilities with 25,000 or more customers to have 15 percent of their power supply generated from new renewable resources – excluding existing hydropower – by 2020. Washington has sales tax exemptions for wind energy. Washington provides utility grants, loans and rebates for wind power.[4]

Notable projects

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See also: List of power stations in Washington
Wind Farm Northeast of Walla Walla, Washington
Name Location Capacity (MW) Ref
Windy Point Wind Farm Klickitat County 400 [5]
Wild Horse Wind Farm Kittitas County 273 [5]
Marengo Wind Farm Columbia County 211 [5]
White Creek Wind Farm Klickitat County 205 [5]
Big Horn Wind Farm Klickitat County 200 [5]
Stateline Wind Farm Walla Walla County 177 [5]
Hopkins Ridge Wind Farm Columbia County 157 [6]
Lower Snake River Wind Project Garfield County 344.7 [5]
Tucannon River Wind Farm Columbia County 267 [7]
Palouse Wind Farm Whitman County 100 [8]
Nine Canyon Wind Project Benton County 95.9 [9]

Potential capacity

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Washington onshore wind potential map
Washington-Oregon offshore wind potential map

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that Washington has potential to install over 18,000 megawatts of onshore wind power.[10] Washington ranks 24th in its potential for onshore wind generation,[11] and also has the potential to install 120,964 MW of offshore wind generation which could generate 488,025 GWh/year.[12]

Installed

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Installed wind power capacity in Washington has seen strong growth in recent years and Washington now ranks among the top ten states with the most wind power installed. Wind power accounted for 5.3% of total electricity generated in Washington during 2011.[13]

The table below shows the growth in wind power installed nameplate capacity in MW for Washington from 1999 to 2011.[14]

Washington's wind power generating capacity has been steadily increasing since 2005.

Statistics

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Washington electricity production by type
Wind power in Washington
Year Capacity
(MW)[15][16][17] 		Generation
(GWh) 		Capacity Factor[18]
(%) 		Generation
(% of total)
2000 0
2001 180.2
2002 228.3 418 21.9
2003 243.9 602 28.2
2004 240.6 737 35
2005 390 498 15.6
2006 818.1 1,038 14.5
2007 1,163.2 2,439 23.9
2008 1,375 3,658 30.4
2009 1,848.9 3,571 22
2010[19] 2,104.4 4,475 24.3 4.6%
2011[20] 2,573 6,261 27.8 5.3%
2012[21] 2,808 6,600 26.8 5.8%
2013[22] 2,808 7,003 24.5 6.2%
2014[23] 3,075 7,269 26 6.3%
2015[24][25] 3,075 7,077 26.3 6.5%
2016 3,075 8,043 29.9 7.1%
2017 3,075 6,925 25.7
2018 3,075 7,899 29.3
2019 3,085 6,679 24.7 7.33%
2020[3] 3,395 9,266 28
2021 9,298
2022 8,061
2023 7,601
Washington Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2002 418 48 21 51 35 28 33 36 31 34 26 33 42
2003 602 28 35 71 76 42 74 61 55 33 42 52 33
2004 737 70 59 85 62 72 48 39 47 57 65 58 75
2005 498 30 23 56 42 48 63 34 38 40 44 49 31
2006 1,038 151 81 85 77 73 59 81 53 49 63 184 82
2007 2,439 151 155 211 197 183 211 156 200 201 206 196 372
2008 3,658 314 297 361 375 330 397 307 297 170 238 253 319
2009 3,571 316 144 435 322 330 356 239 345 282 307 334 161
2010 4,475 221 130 401 619 522 519 422 471 361 348 402 329
2011 6,261 519 484 513 745 557 637 529 572 367 497 499 342
2012 6,600 531 511 777 607 682 724 469 484 316 516 345 638
2013 7,003 502 672 649 890 610 537 568 456 587 350 505 677
2014 7,269 448 540 754 770 723 783 552 491 517 480 679 532
2015 7,077 304 492 573 681 524 567 772 717 554 578 608 707
2016 8,043 438 631 819 699 797 780 735 575 684 606 606 673
2017 6,925 282 441 650 806 567 772 827 611 528 664 498 279
2018 7,899 447 863 708 793 751 836 756 819 559 394 516 457
2019 6,679 315 385 366 764 720 884 819 688 641 519 325 253
2020 9,265 931 972 915 800 784 745 725 627 501 876 775 614
2021 9,298 553 1,028 798 911 803 703 584 709 673 738 920 887
2022 8,061 521 792 849 902 941 675 484 579 555 648 590 525
2023 7,601 631 873 846 780 568 509 478 539 544 547 668 613
2024 627 719

Source:[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 2016 State of the Interconnection page 23. WECC, 2016. Archive
  2. ^ "Washington Wind Energy" (PDF). U.S. Wind Energy State Facts. American Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b Wind Energy in Washington
  4. ^ "Washington Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency". Database of State incentives for renewable energy. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Staff (July 2010). "U.S. Wind Energy Projects - Washington". American Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  6. ^ PSE Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility
  7. ^ Tucanon River Wind Farm
  8. ^ https://www.firstwind.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Palouse-Fact-Sheet.pdf [dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Nine Canyon Wind Project". Archived from the original on 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  10. ^ National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2010-02-04). "State wind energy potential (2010)". U.S. Department of Energy. Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
  11. ^ "Wind Energy Facts - Washington" (PDF). AWEA. August 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  12. ^ Renewable Energy Technical Potential
  13. ^ "AWEA Annual Report 2011". American Wind Energy Association. April 12, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  14. ^ "Wind Powering America: Installed U.S. Wind Capacity and Wind Project Locations". U.S. Department of Energy. April 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-30.
  15. ^ Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (2015-06-30). "Installed Wind Capacity By State". United States Department of Energy. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  16. ^ a b "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Department of Energy. March 28, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  17. ^ WINDExchange: U.S. Installed and Potential Wind Power Capacity and Generation
  18. ^ "Capacity factor", Wikipedia, 2021-08-22, retrieved 2021-08-25
  19. ^ "Electric Power Monthly with Data for December 2010" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration. March 2011. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  20. ^ "Electric Power Monthly with Data for December 2011" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration. February 2012. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  21. ^ "Electric Power Monthly with Data for December 2012" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration. February 2013. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  22. ^ "Electric Power Monthly with Data for December 2013" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration. February 2014. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  23. ^ "Electric Power Monthly with Data for December 2014" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration. February 2015. Retrieved 2015-11-16.
  24. ^ "Electric Power Monthly with Data for December 2015" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration. February 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  25. ^ windexchange
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