In the U.S. State of Kansas, wind power is the largest source of electricity, generating over 41% of the state's electricity in 2019.[1] Kansas has a high potential capacity for wind power, second behind Texas. The most recent estimates (2012) are that Kansas has a potential for 952 GW of wind power capacity yet had only about 5.6 GW installed by year end 2018. Kansas could generate 3,102 TW·h of electricity each year,[2] which represents over 75% of all the electricity generated in the United States in 2011.[3] This electricity could be worth $290 billion per year (at 9.35 cents per kW·h[4]).

Kansas wind resources

Growth

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Kansas electricity production by type
Year Capacity (MW)[5][6]
Kansas US
1999 1.5 2,472
2000 1.5 2,539
2001 113.7 4,232
2002 113.7 4,687
2003 113.7 6,350
2004 113.7 6,723
2005 263.7 9,147
2006 364.2 11,575
2007 364.2 16,907
2008 921 25,410
2009 1,021 34,863
2010 1,074 40,267
2011 1,274 46,916
2012 2,713 60,005
2013 2,967 61,107
2014 2,967 65,880
2015 3,766 74,471
2016 4,451 82,171
2017 5,110 89,078
2018 5,653 96,487
2019 6,128 105,583
2020 7,016 122,478
2021 8,245 135,843

Kansas has led the nation over the past decade in all measured categories of scaling up renewable electricity generation with an overall growth in generation of 1,678.5% from 2001-2007.[7] This rapid overall growth in renewable energy generation represents an equally large increase of 1,487.9%, as a percent of total state electricity generation. Massive increases in generation are largely the product of wind energy development across the state. In 2001, Kansas had 114 Megawatts (MW) of wind energy generation. By the end of 2011, Kansas had installed 1,224 MW of generation.[8] Wind energy generation in Kansas grew 2,793.5% from 2001-2007. This amounts to an average growth of slightly over 75% per year.[9]

Potential

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Being centrally located in the midwest, Kansas is squarely placed in the center of America’s wind tunnel, a corridor stretching from North Dakota south into the Texas panhandle, where the vast majority of the nation’s best on-shore wind resources are located.[10] Kansas has the 2nd highest wind potential in the U.S. with an estimated over 952,000 MW possible capacity, capable of generating over 3,101,576 GWh. Texas has the largest wind potential.[2]

With a projected total state peak load of 10,000 MW, Kansas could become a major wind energy exporting state to the south and the east U.S. where renewable generation opportunities are much more constrained.[11]

The Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) projects that if Kansas were to develop 7,158 MW of new wind by 2030 the economic impact for Kansas would total over $7.8 billion in benefit to local economies, landowners, and job creation, creating over 26,000 new jobs.[7]

In 2007 Kansas Governor Sebelius noted in her State of the State address that “our goal is to produce 10 percent of our state’s electricity from wind power by 2010, and 20 percent by 2020.”[12]

Wind power accounted for 19.4% of the electricity generated in Kansas during 2013.[13] By 2016 it accounted for 29.6%.[14] In 2018 it reached 36%, a higher percentage than any other U.S. state.[15] In 2019 it comprised 41.45%.[16]

Economic benefits

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Forecasts indicate that for every 1,000 MW of wind developed in Kansas, cumulative economic benefits will be $1.08 billion, with annual CO2 reduction estimated at 3.2 million tons, and annual water savings at 1,816 million gallons. These projected benefits could be greatly increased by developing more localized manufacturing, installation, supply and maintenance industry within the State.[17] In the 6 years leading up to 2008, Kansas lost 10,944 manufacturing jobs totaling 6% of the manufacturing workforce.[11] It is estimated that the potential manufacturing benefit for Kansas lies mostly in the southeastern part of the state. Up to 2008, southeastern Kansas experienced the majority of high unemployment rates in the state (i.e., >6%).[18]

Environmental impact

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Education

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Cloud County Community College has a wind energy technology program in Concordia. CCCC is the only college in the state of Kansas with an AWEA-certified wind energy program and only one of seven in the entire United States. They are located just two miles north of the Meridian Way wind farm.[citation needed]

Wind generation

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Generation from wind power in 2017 was 36 percent of generation in Kansas
Kansas Wind Generation (GWh, Million kWh)
Year Total Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2001 40 40
2002 466 46 47 47 47 46 43 30 33 34 30 32 31
2003 366 29 23 40 40 31 23 31 27 30 26 29 37
2004 358 23 31 37 34 43 26 23 23 34 28 26 30
2005 425 18 19 33 36 30 35 32 17 36 28 36 105
2006 992 88 67 94 97 66 69 63 54 79 105 102 108
2007 1,152 97 93 113 105 98 63 63 91 101 135 103 90
2008 1,760 137 121 150 183 167 124 133 93 124 166 164 198
2009 2,862 220 218 275 270 237 193 169 224 159 305 278 314
2010 3,406 235 190 367 362 284 283 246 258 288 294 345 254
2011 3,720 279 320 328 357 356 358 234 205 218 355 386 324
2012 5,195 416 327 388 358 425 466 355 327 321 461 665 686
2013 9,432 727 687 789 886 869 817 634 597 864 993 845 724
2014 10,844 1,039 765 1,119 1,140 795 919 769 733 845 815 1,075 830
2015 10,999 922 824 828 997 917 812 737 697 989 879 1,152 1,245
2016 14,112 1,061 1,303 1,423 1,300 1,103 984 1,076 884 1,138 1,396 1,222 1,222
2017 18,598 1,407 1,426 1,889 1,953 1,659 1,509 1,194 921 1,552 1,797 1,580 1,711
2018 18,907 1,761 1,549 1,943 1,822 1,450 1,872 914 1,372 1,560 1,402 1,467 1,795
2019 21,126 1,597 1,416 1,870 1,952 1,566 1,473 1,652 1,339 2,205 2,087 2,007 1,962
2020 23,964 1,876 1,921 1,959 2,057 1,887 2,574 1,592 1,710 1,817 2,050 2,412 2,109
2021 25,622 2,145 1,417 2,665 2,492 2,323 1,752 1,534 2,133 2,165 2,135 2,203 2,658
2022 29,477 2,605 2,627 3,022 3,019 2,778 2,346 1,991 1,766 2,128 1,995 2,775 2,425
2023 7,642 2,355 2,475 2,812
Source:[19]
Kansas Wind Generation in 2011
Kansas Wind Generation in 2017
Kansas Wind Generation in 2013

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Electric Power Monthly with Data for December 2019 (PDF) (Report). Energy Information Administration. February 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  2. ^ a b National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2012-07-04). "U.S. Renewable Energy Technical Potentials" (PDF). U.S. Department of Energy. p. 14.
  3. ^ Net Generation by Energy Source
  4. ^ Average Retail Cost of Electricity in the United States
  5. ^ WINDExchange: U.S. Installed and Potential Wind Capacity and Generation
  6. ^ "Market Report 2021". American Clean Power Association. May 17, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "State of the States 2009: Renewable Energy Development and the Role of Policy" (PDF). National Renewable Energy Lab.
  8. ^ "US Installed Wind Capacity 2004-2010". National Renewable Energy Lab. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  9. ^ "State of the States 2009: Renewable Energy Development and the Role of Policy" (PDF). National Renewable Energy Lab. p. 39.
  10. ^ "80 Meter Wind Map". National Renewable Energy Lab. Department of Energy. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  11. ^ a b "20 GW Study for Kansas" (PDF). American Council on Renewable Energy. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  12. ^ "A Closer Look at Wind for the State". Kansas Energy. Kansas Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  13. ^ "American wind power reaches major power generation milestones in 2013". American Wind Energy Association. March 5, 2014.
  14. ^ "Kansas Wind Energy" (PDF). U.S. Wind Energy State Facts. American Wind Energy Association. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Kansas - State Energy Profile Overview". U.S. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  16. ^ Wind Energy in Kansas
  17. ^ "Economic Benefits of Wind Energy in Kansas" (PDF). Wind Power America. Department of Energy. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  18. ^ "Domestic Manufacturing: Kansas' Future in the Renewable Energy Industry". Renewable Energy Policy Project. Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  19. ^ "Electricity Data Browser". U.S. Department of Energy. March 28, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
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