The United States has been growing their renewable energy sector steadily in the past two years since the recession. Governmental incentives to generate renewable energy in the wind and solar sectors may be limited in the next few years due to bickering in government, which may greatly impact smaller startups. But the last two years have seen twenty-seven major renewable projects approved in the U.S. and more are likely to be fast tracked next year as well.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) has approved sixteen major solar energy plants in the last two years. The DOI has also approved four large-scale wind projects and seven geothermal plants. These projects equal approximately six gigawatts of renewable energy for the U.S..
Before the year ended, on December 30th, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved another two large renewable projects. One of the projects is a major solar farm in California while the other is a wind farm located in Oregon. In total, 379 megawatts of energy will be gained from the two projects and both will be built on private lands.
The Centinela solar project located in California will generate a total of 275 megawatts of energy. It will be connected to the San Diego Gas & Electric transmission lines.
The wind project in Oregon will be located near Diamond, Oregon. The wind farm is expected to generate 104 megawatts of energy. In addition, forty-four miles of transmission lines will be installed to connect wind projects in the region.
However, wind projects in the future may be facing an uphill battle without the approval of a tax credit due to expire in 2012. In order to qualify for the tax credit the wind farms must be operational by the end of 2012, which is unlikely now for new farms due to the time it takes for governmental approval and construction. Those in the wind industry fear investments may fall by two-thirds come 2013.
