Maintaining Wind Turbine Performance

摘要

As the push for renewable energy sources continues to grow in the United States, wind energy is often looked at as a key source of power generation to meet renewable energy goals. At the end of 2010, the U.S. had 40, 181MW of installed wind capacity. In the first quarter of 2011 an additional 1,118 MW was installed, more than doubling the first quarter of 2010. According to the U.S. trade group the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, there is still potential for 10,400,000 MW of wind energy capacity in the U.S. Canada has an installed capacity of 4,611 MW that generates about 2 percent of the country's total electricity demand. The province of Ontario leads the nation with 1,656 MW of capacity and Acciona Windpower North America, for one, is looking to add more capacity. Joe Baker, CEO at Acciona Windpower North America, said that although the market overall has been depressed since the economic downturn in 2008, there are some opportunities in pockets through North America;