Wind power in the United States
The 2011 NREL report, "Large-Scale Offshore Wind Power in the United States", analyzes the current state of the offshore wind energy industry. According to the report, offshore wind resource development would help the country to achieve 20% of its electric power from wind by 2030 and to revitalize the manufacturing sector. Offshore wind could supply 54 gigawatts of capacity to the nation's electrical grid, thereby increasing energy security. It could also generate an estimated $200 billion in new economic activity and create thousands of permanent jobs. NREL’s report concludes that "the development of the nation’s offshore wind resources can provide many potential benefits, and that offshore wind energy could play a vital role in future U.S. energy markets".
Low-carbon power
At the end of 2011, worldwide nameplate capacity of wind-powered generators was 238 gigawatts (GW), growing by 40.5 GW of nameplate capacity over the preceding year. Between 2005 and 2010 the average annual growth in new installations was 27.6 percent. According to the World Wind Energy Association, an industry organization, in 2010 wind power generated 430 TWh or about 2.5% of worldwide electricity usage, up from 1.5% in 2008 and 0.1% in 1997. Wind power's share of worldwide electricity usage at the end of 2014 was 3.1%. Several countries have already achieved relatively high levels of penetration, such as 28% of stationary (grid) electricity production in Denmark (2011), 19% in Portugal (2011), 16% in Spain (2011), 14% in Ireland (2010 to 2014) and 8% in Germany (2011). As of 2011, 83 countries around the world were using wind power on a commercial basis.