Wind farms were built at a blistering pace last year, as wind power capacity grew by a record 50 percent in 2008, according to new figures from the American Wind Energy Association.

Texas, already the top wind-producing state, extended its lead, while California fell from second to third in the rankings, passed by Iowa.

However, the head of the wind association, Denise Bode, called the numbers “both exciting and sobering” in a statement.

Financing for many wind project has dried up in the wake of the banking sector’s troubles, and some turbine manufacturers — including, most recently Clipper Windpower in Iowa — are laying off workers.

The industry is hoping that the stimulus bill working its way through Congress will help the industry.

Ms. Bode has previously said that, “If something isn’t done, we could see as much as a 50 percent reduction in new wind starts in 2009 compared to 2008.”

On the bright side, the industry group said that 85,000 people are employed in the wind industry, compared to about 50,000 a year ago.

The Clean Development Mechanism has contributed to the deployment of wind energy globally. As of October 2008, a total of 538 wind energy projects were in the “CDM pipeline”, totaling an installed capacity of 20,434 MW. This represents 14% of the total number of projects introduced into the pipeline. Almost 7 million CERs have already been issued to these wind projects, a number that will go up to a total of 213 million by the end of the first commitment period in 2012 for the projects currently in the pipeline.

The majority of these projects are located in China and India. In China, 90% of wind energy projects have applied for CDM registration, and there are now 254 projects in the CDM pipeline, making up more than 13 GW of capacity. India has 231 projects in the pipeline, totalling more than 4 GW.

The limited number of countries with CDM-supported wind projects reflects the fact that carbon finance is a useful, and in some cases necessary condition for the development of wind power in the developing world, but it is by no means sufficient. In the case of both India and China carbon finance functions alongside a wide range of other measures necessary for countries to diversify and decarbonise their power supply sectors.
There are signs that some other countries may join the list of major host countries for wind power projects assisted by CDM carbon finance. However, it is clear that the ultimate responsibility for this lies with active government implementation of policies and measures to create the enabling environment within which carbon finance can play its role – as an important source to defray the marginal costs of wind power versus conventional fossil fuel plants. This is particularly
the case in the absence of an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) announced the remarkable news today:

The U.S. wind energy industry shattered all previous records in 2008 by installing 8,358 megawatts (MW) of new generating capacity (enough to serve over 2 million homes).

Half of that was brought online in the fourth quarter, and so I expect stories in big media touting how well alternative energy has been weathering the brutal economic storm — as if (see “Global recession? Must be time for the media’s alternative-energy backlash“).

Still, the AWEA report made clear that there could be tough times ahead, unless Congress takes strong action on tax credits (see “House Ways & Means embraces refundable renewable tax credits“):

The massive growth in 2008 swelled the nation’s total wind power generating capacity by 50% and channeled an investment of some $17 billion into the economy, positioning wind power as one of the leading sources of new power generation in the country today along with natural gas, AWEA added. At year’s end, however, financing for new projects and orders for turbine components slowed to a trickle and layoffs began to hit the wind turbine manufacturing sector.

“Our numbers are both exciting and sobering,” said AWEA CEO Denise Bode. “The U.S. wind energy industry’s performance in 2008 confirms that wind is an economic and job creation dynamo, ready to deliver on the President’s call to double renewable energy production in three years. At the same time, it is clear that the economic and financial downturn have begun to take a serious toll on new wind development. We are already seeing layoffs in the area where wind’s promise is greatest for our economy: the wind power manufacturing sector. Quick action in the stimulus bill is vital to restore the industry’s momentum and create jobs as we help make our country more secure and leave a more stable climate for our children.”

The new wind projects completed in 2008 account for about 42% of the entire new power-producing capacity added nationally last year, according to initial estimates, and will avoid nearly 44 million tons of carbon emissions, the equivalent of taking over 7 million cars off of the road.

The amount that the industry brought online in the 4th quarter alone — 4,112 MW – exceeds annual additions for every year except 2007. In all, wind energy generating capacity in the U.S. now stands at 25,170 MW, producing enough electricity to power the equivalent of close to 7 million households and strengthening our national energy supply with a clean, inexhaustible, homegrown source of energy.

Iowa, with 2,790 MW installed, surpassed California (2,517 MW) in wind power generating capacity. The top five states in terms of capacity installed are now:

-Texas, with 7,116 MW
-Iowa, with 2,790 MW
-California, with 2,517 MW
-Minnesota, with 1,752 MW
-Washington, with 1,375 MW

Oregon moved into the club of states with more than 1,000 MW installed, which now counts seven states: Texas, Iowa, California, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, and Oregon.

About 85,000 people are employed in the wind industry today, up from 50,000 a year ago, and hold jobs in areas as varied as turbine component manufacturing, construction and installation of wind turbines, wind turbine operations and maintenance, legal and marketing services, and more. About 8,000 of these jobs are construction jobs, and a significant number of those will be lost in 2009 if financing for the pipeline of new projects is not quickly restored.