U.S. wind energy grew 20 pct in 2006: industry group

By Bernie Woodall

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wind energy in the United States grew by 20 percent to 11,600 megawatts (MW) last year, enough to generate power for about 3 million average U.S. homes, the American Wind Energy Association said on Wednesday.

Texas has the biggest wind farm and the most wind power generation, with 2,678 MW of installed turbines, showed an annual survey by the AWEA, the largest U.S. wind energy industry group. California followed with 2,361 MW.

The actual power production of a turbine is generally about a third of its capacity due to intermittent wind.

Wind power is one of the main sources of renewable power in the United States and is becoming more popular as utilities are required by law to increase no-emissions renewable power and as public sentiment for "green" power grows.

About $4 billion was spent on wind energy development last year, the report said.

"These wind power rankings tell the story of a vibrant industry that is growing fast, competing hard, gaining market share, and all the while powering a cleaner, stronger America," said AWEA executive director Randall Swisher.

The survey said FPL Energy continues to dominate the U.S. wind energy market and manages four times the amount of wind power generation than the company in the second spot, PPM Energy. PPM is a unit of Scottish Power Plc.

FPL Energy manages the biggest single wind farm in the United States, the 736-MW Horse Hollow project in Texas.