Colorado led the nation in wind energy manufacturing jobs in 2014, riding a record-setting market for turbines, according to the American Wind Energy Association.
Almost 4,900 megawatts of wind projects were added in the U.S. in 2014 — four times the amount added in 2013, the trade group said in its annual report.
That in turn spurred a rise in employment in the wind industry, which added 22,500 jobs for an industry total work force of 73,000.
“The biggest job growth was in Colorado. That was due to Vestas, and that is going to continue” said Emily Williams, a spokeswoman for AWEA.
The exact number of jobs added by companies is proprietary, so the wind energy association does not release that information, Williams said.
Vestas Wind Systems, based in Aarhus, Denmark, is the world’s largest maker of wind turbines. It operates two factories in Brighton and one each in Windsor and Pueblo.
In March 2014, Vestas announced it was hiring 850 workers, and the company said it plans to hire 600 people this year.
The hires came after the federal wind production tax credit — which gives a new wind farm a $22 credit for each megawatt-hour it generates — was restored.
When the tax credit, a key element in financing wind projects, expired in 2012, orders for wind turbines plunged by 92 percent, the wind energy association said.
In Colorado, Vestas cut about 700 jobs, almost 40 percent of its work force, between 2012 and 2013.
Nationwide there was a loss of 30,000 wind industry jobs in 2013, the wind energy association said.
The restoration of the tax credit spurred projects across the county.
Vestas’ Colorado work force is now close to 3,000, and Vestas has orders for 338 megawatts of turbines.
“Our four Colorado factories are running full out, delivering turbines for the U.S., Canada and elsewhere in the Americas,” Chris Brown, president of Vestas’ North American sales and service, said in an e-mail.
“Every year, we are making turbines that are bigger, more efficient,” Brown said. “As a result, the cost of wind energy is dropping fast — more than 50 percent in the last five years alone.”
With the 2014 hires, Colorado is now third in wind industry employment — behind Texas and Iowa — with a total 6,000 to 7,000 jobs, the trade group said.
Colorado was also 10th in the country for wind-turbine installations in 2014, with 2,593 megawatts. Texas was first, followed by California. Almost 14 percent of Colorado’s electricity in 2014 came from the state’s 7,351 megawatts of wind farms, the wind energy association said.
Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy Resources was the biggest developer of wind farms, including two in Colorado.
NextEra is building a $240 million, 150-megawatt project in Kit Carson County that will sell power to the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.
A $400 million project for 250 megawatts in El Paso County will sell its power to Xcel Energy.
“Future market opportunity nationally and in Colorado will continue so long as wind is an economic alternative,” NextEra spokesman Steven Stengel said in an e-mail.
Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, which operates in eight states, continued to be the utility with the most wind power on its system — 5,736 megawatts — including 2,342 megawatts in Colorado.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
