The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced t Q3 2009 report which shows that US wind energy installed some 1.65 GW of wind power capacity. The amount of installed capacity surpasses the total amounts for Q2 2009 and Q3 2008, and now brings the total amount of installed wind power capacity in the US in 2009 to 5.8 GW. According to the report, production and new announcments still lag behind 2008 levels.

Even though wind power installations are up, which is good news for the US wind sector, manufacturing is lower than in 2008, which in turn means less Americans are employed in the clean energy industry sector, which makes the future of this career profile more uncertain. According to AWEA CEO Denise Bode, a firm long-term national commitment to renewable energy is needed to make the US a wind turbine manufacturing powerhouse, and create thousands of new and needed jobs.

Since July this year, about 1.6 GW of wind projects have been completed, and construction on another 1.7GW have been started. This represents a total of about USD 6.5 billion in investments in this sector. AWEA, however, doesn't expect Q4 2009 to be stronger than last year.

Currently, the US has about 31 GW of wind power installations, powering about 9 million homes, which represents an expected carbon emission reduction of about 2.5% from the electricity sector. Here's a map showing installed wind power capacity this year:

Installed wind power capacity in the United States in Q3 2009. (Image: AWEA)

For more detailed information, see AWEA's report.