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U.S. COMPANIES START CASHING IN
ON NEXT WIND POWER EXPANSION
Workers in Texas, Louisiana to Benefit from
Continued Growth in Clean Energy Industry
Recent announcements by two U.S. manufacturers that they are expecting
increased business building towers for wind turbine generators underline the
economic potential of clean energy, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)
said today.
During the first two weeks of August, Beaird Industries of Shreveport, La., a
subsidiary of Industrial Holdings, Inc. (IHI), received an order for wind turbine towers valued "in excess of $55 million," while Trinity Industries of
Dallas, Tex., said it is creating a new subsidiary, Trinity Structural Towers,
Inc., to compete for business in the fast-growing industry.
Wind energy was the world's fastest-growing energy source during the 1990s,
with an annual average growth rate of over 25%, and its pace has accelerated in
recent years. AWEA currently expects U.S. installed wind generating capacity to
increase by 40% to 60% by the end of next year--an increase that would amount
to approximately $1 billion to $1.5 billion in new construction.
"American industry and American workers and farmers are finally beginning to
cash in on the promise of wind energy," said AWEA executive director Randall
Swisher, "and recent runups in the prices of oil and natural gas have helped to
emphasize the value of wind--an energy source whose 'fuel' is free and therefore immune to speculation in the energy markets.
"The Great Plains states, from Minnesota to Texas to Wyoming, are a vast 'Saudi
Arabia of wind,' where many billions of dollars worth of wind equipment will
someday be installed to generate electricity without air pollution or greenhouse gas emissions."
FPL Energy LLC, a major wind energy developer, placed the order with Beaird
Industries. It calls for Beaird to fabricate up to 800 wind turbine towers,
each 50 meters in height, by November, 2001. The first 242 towers are slated
for an FPL project in West Texas. Beaird has also sought and received certification from a leading certification agency, Germany's Germanischer
Lloyd, for the tower design.
Trinity Industries said in announcing the decision to create its new tower-building subsidiary that it, too, had recently booked its "first major
order from a wind turbine manufacturer for the supply of towers," adding, "Wind
turbines are a significant component in renewable energy and worldwide capital
expenditures for this market in 2001 are expected to be strong."
"With wind energy's costs continuing to decline," said Swisher, "and fossil
fuel prices spiking, we are moving into a takeoff phase for wind energy in the
U.S. The wind energy industry is proof that economic growth and preservation of
the environment can go hand in hand."
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AWEA, formed in 1974, is the national trade association of the U.S. wind energy
industry. The association's membership of more than 700 includes turbine
manufacturers, wind project developers, utilities, academicians, and interested
individuals from 49 states. More information on wind energy is available
from the home page
of the AWEA web site: www.awea.org
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