United States leads wind power market

The United States dominated the world’s fast-growing wind power market for the fourth consecutive year, federal energy officials said.

U.S. wind power additions increased by 60 percent in 2008 with $16 billion in new investment, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said Monday in a release.

At this pace, wind is on a path to becoming a significant contributor to the U.S. power mix, Lawrence spokesman Ryan Wiser said, adding the United States last year overtook Germany to lead in new wind installations.

Wind projects accounted for 42 percent of all new electric generating capacity added in the United States last year, with wind delivering nearly 2 percent of the nation’s energy supply, Wiser said.

Aggressive federal policies continue to push growth in the U.S. wind power industry, despite the sour economy, Wiser said.