A number of wind power

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....

projects are under way in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Washington.

Potential capacity and legislative actions

Washington's wind facts are as follows:

• Power Capacity - Existing projects (MW): 1,914.48
• Power Capacity - Projects under construction (MW): 814.6
• Rank In US (by Existing Capacity): 5
• Rank In US (by Potential Capacity): 24
• Potential Capacity (in MW): 3740
• Annual Energy (in billion kWh): 33

Initiative 937

Initiative 937

Ballot Initiative 937 was a successful clean energy initiative in the US state of Washington, appearing on the ballot in the November 2006 elections...

 requires electric utilities with 25,000 or more customers to have 15 percent of their power supply generated from renewable resources by 2020. Washington state has sales tax exemptions for wind energy. Washington state provides utility grants, loans and rebates for wind power.

Notable projects

Name	Location	Capacity (MW)	Status
Windy Point Wind Farm	Klickitat County	339	Operational
Wild Horse I Wild Horse Wind Farm The Wild Horse Wind Farm is a 229-megawatt wind farm that generates energy for Puget Sound Energy that consists of one hundred twenty-seven 1.8-megawatt Vestas V80 turbines on a site in Kittitas County, Washington, east of Ellensburg, Washington....	Kittitas County	273	Operational
Marengo Wind Farm Marengo Wind Farm Marengo Wind Farm is an electricity generating wind farm facility located near Dayton, Washington, United States. It is owned by PacifiCorp and began operations in 2007. The facility has a generating capacity of 140 megawatts.-External links:...	Columbia County	211	Operational
White Creek Wind Farm White Creek Wind Farm The White Creek Wind Farm is an electricity generating wind farm facility in Klickitat County, Washington, United States. It is owned by Last Mile Electric Cooperative and began operations in 2007...	Klickitat County	205	Operational
Big Horn Wind Farm Big Horn Wind Farm The Big Horn Wind Farm has a 200 megawatt generating capacity and uses 133 GE Energy 1.5 MW wind turbines. This wind power plant is owned by Big Horn LLC, a subsidiary of Iberdrola Renewables.It is located in Klickitat County, Washington and 98 percent of the land it is on remains available for...	Klickitat County	200	Operational
Stateline Wind Farm	Walla Walla County	177	Operational
Hopkins Ridge Wind Farm Hopkins Ridge Wind Farm The Hopkins Ridge Wind Farm is an electricity generating wind farm facility located in Columbia County, Washington, United States. It is owned by Puget Sound Energy and began operations in 2005. The facility has a generating capacity of 149 megawatts....	Columbia County	157	Operational
Lower Snake River Wind Project Lower Snake River Wind Project The Lower Snake River Wind Project is under construction in Washington’s Garfield and Columbia counties. The wind farm is being developed in phases with the first phase consisting of 149 Siemens wind turbines rated at 2.3 MW each for a maximum generating capacity of 343 MW...	Garfield County	342.7	Under construction

Potential

While originally estimated to have nearly 4,000 megawatts of potential onshore capacity by the American Wind Energy Association

American Wind Energy Association

Formed in 1974, the American Wind Energy Association is a Washington, D.C.-based national trade association representing wind power project developers, equipment suppliers, service providers, parts manufacturers, utilities, researchers, and others involved in the wind industry.With over 2,500...

, a comprehensive update of the wind energy potential by state released in 2010 by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory , located in Golden, Colorado, is the United States' primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility; it is funded through...

 showed that Washington has potential to install over 18,000 megawatts of onshore wind power.

Installed

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 4.6% of total electricity generated in Washington during 2010.

The following table shows the growth in wind power installed nameplate capacity in MW for Washington since 1999.

Year Amount Change % Change 1999 0 0 0.00% 2000 0 0 0.00% 2001 180 180 -- 2002 228 48 26.67% 2003 244 16 7.02% 2004 241 -4 -1.23% 2005 390 149 61.83% 2006 818 428 109.74% 2007 1,163 345 42.18% 2008 1,375 212 18.23% 2009 1,849 474 34.47% 2010 2,104 255 13.79%

See also

• Wind power in the United States
  Wind power in the United States
  As of the third quarter of 2011, the cumulative installed capacity of wind power in the United States was 43,461 megawatts , making it second in the world, behind China. In 2010 wind power accounted for 2.3% of the electricity generated in the United States...
  
  
• List of wind farms in the United States

External links

• Northwest Wind Industry Alliance (NWIA) official webpage
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in Washington
• U.S. Wind Energy Projects - Washington
• Washington Wind Activities