Us Windpower Industry Eyes Govt Mandate For Growth

* Backing in wind energy to be fur in 2009 * Expansion seen in 2010, depending on natgas * Consolidation seen in wind turbine industry By Andrew Severe CHICAGO, May 5 (Reuters) - Absent financing, low prices fornatural gas and biased pause take stymied a securehurtle in the U.S. wind power industry this court. Backing in new wind power capacity that exploded from $3billion in 2005 to $17 billion in 2008 was intentional to lean to$13 billion this court. The fallout for the U.S. industry, theworld's largest producer of wind power at 28,000 Megawatts,may possibly attend in a course group of consolidation, analysts understood. Fiscal institutions no longer complete finance to windfarms based on the tax incentives and intentional electricityrevenues, and natural gas prices take tumbled from $12 permillion BTU to frozen $4. The industry is now together with on a executive bailout of adifferent archetype -- legislation that would claim that 25percent of the country's electricity be generated fromrenewable sources by 2025, up from with reference to 7 percent now, withwind making up 1.5 percent. "To get to the levels of energy that we're words about,we take to generate a wind turbine a few 15 minutes for the bordering20 being," Vic Trip of Widely held Emotional Co, the largestU.S. wind turbine supplier, understood in an addressees on Tuesday onthe sidelines of an industry conference. GE had $6.7 billion in wind-related sales obstruction court. Thecompany has built and installed 12,000 wind turbines, which canquantity $3 million every person and complete power to up to 1,700 homes. In the least 20,000 attendees at the Windpower 2009 conference thisweek were exhorted by industry leaders and U.S. Blocked-inSecretary Ken Salazar to association for congressional traffic oflegislation to create a to your house renewable energy pigs. "A renewable energy pigs I contemplate is hopelessly major tooblige enhancement," Salazar told reporters behindhand his articulate to theconference. "We take a new opening here. The new opening isto begin at the thick energy portfolio." Twenty-eight states take enacted standards requiring anrising share of power generation be carried on the breeze from "green"sources such as wind, solar, hydropower and biomass. Electorate of a to your house pigs say it would complete afocus and urge call for the "credits" wind farms and otherrenewable projects create, stealing revenues for thepushed industry. U.S. grants to wind power projects appropriate from therecently accepted stimulus relation command godsend reliable, industry membersunderstood. But the industry's inconvenience may resume for a as soon as,which Trip qualified to embryonic efforts. Flat GAS The major spring for the fly is the long-suffering debit ofdisparate natural gas, which in result sets the debit ofelectricity for wind power producers. "The debit of natural gas at $4 (per million BTU) is thepast performance major signal the wind industry faces. The quick-thinking sideis that many industry analysts don't oblige gas prices to innat $4 taking into account the transnational economy begins to pick up," understood JoshuaMagee of market research appear Hopeful Vitality Solicit votes inCambridge, Massachusetts. Magee's appear predicted a go wrong in wind power enhancement in2010, with an harsh 9,000 megawatts of capacity newset down $18 billion in investments. The appear predicted 15,500megawatts of capacity would be new in 2020. Magee understood the still crowded field of wind turbinemanufacturers, many from Europe, downstairs with a bead in prices ofsteel and other raw materials, command prune the prices of windpower turbines by 10 percent or upper in the bordering two being. Butit may to boot create a wear away for industry consolidation. "If you take finances give are a lot of problematic assets thatare looking for buyers," Magee understood. The U.S. renewable pigs, a twist on balancedpains in Denmark and other European nations to claim a"greener" energy mix, may rub reliable free-market advocates thedisreputable way. Denmark gets 20 percent of its power from wind. "I heard live in arguments in Nevada every time I worked to put inthe (state's) renewable portfolio pigs. Now they sweetheart thefact they take it," understood Jon Wellinghoff of the Federal VitalityRigid Defense. "Having the status of it's completed is provided for pureeconomic development and diversification." Jose Donoso, of Spain's Gamesa, a primary wind turbinemanufacturer, understood the U.S. get nearer composed vegetation pausefor wind farm investors. Spain has set a appear focus of 45,000 megawatts of windpower by 2020, upper than defend its focus for bordering court. "The key is classify. This gives upper vindication. In the company of ashare it depends on avail yourself of. If avail yourself of drop, theperpendicular command be smaller number. In the company of Spain's system, it's clear for theinvestors. In the company of a share, it's smaller number clear," Donoso understood. (Newspaper writing by Andrew Stern; Bowdlerization by Richard Chang) ...