Energy

How many turbines are contained in the U.S. Wind Turbine Database?

As of January 2019, the U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) contains more than 58,000 turbines. These turbines have all been constructed since 1980 in approximately 1,500 wind power projects spanning at least 43 states (plus Puerto Rico and Guam).

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Image: Sandhill Cranes Near Wind Turbines

Can wind turbines harm wildlife?

A key challenge facing the wind industry is the potential for turbines to adversely affect wild animals both directly, via collisions, as well as indirectly due to noise pollution, habitat loss, and reduced survival or reproduction. Among the most impacted wildlife are birds and bats, which by eating destructive insects provide billions of dollars...

How many wind turbines are installed in the U.S. each year?

The number of turbines installed in the U.S. each year varies based on a number of factors, but on average 3,000 turbines have been built in the U.S. each year since 2005. Learn more: Wind Energy U.S. Wind Turbine Database

Wind turbines on a midwest farm

How much wind energy does it take to power an average home?

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration , the average U.S. home uses 867 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per month. The mean turbine capacity in the U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) is 1.67 megawatts (MW). At a 33% capacity factor, that average turbine would generate over 402,000 kWh per month - enough for over 460 average U.S. homes. To...

Is there an international wind turbine database available?

No. To our knowledge, the U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) is unique. Other datasets might be available from other countries on an ad hoc basis, but we are not aware of any central repository of those data. For general information and statistics on international wind projects, see thewindpower.net .

wind turbines around a farm house

Why isn't the turbine in my backyard included in the U.S. Wind Turbine Database?

The U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) is designed to be a comprehensive source of information for utility-scale wind turbines in the United States; residential-scale turbines are excluded. We have removed turbines known to be residential scale and have excluded turbines that are both less than 65 kW in rated capacity and less than 30 meters in...

person on a gravel road along side a row of wind turbines

How are wind turbine data collected?

The U.S. Wind Turbine Database project compiles wind turbine information from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL) Wind Technologies Market Report dataset, the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) wind turbine and project datasets, and the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) legacy (...

How often is the U.S. Wind Turbine Database updated?

The U.S. Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) is updated every three months [or four times a year] and contains turbines that were installed as recently as 3 months preceding the update.

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Year Published: 2018

U.S. Geological Survey energy and wildlife research annual report for 2018

USGS scientists provide scientific information and options that land and resource managers and private industries can use to make decisions regarding the development of energy resources while protecting the health of ecosystems. Studies focus on delivering information to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the impacts of energy infrastructure on fish and...

Khalil, Mona

Attribution: Ecosystems, Energy & Wildlife, United States of America

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Khalil, Mona, ed., 2018, U.S. Geological Survey energy and wildlife research annual report for 2018 (ver. 1.1, October 2018): U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1447, 102 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/cir1447.

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Year Published: 2017

Onshore industrial wind turbine locations for the United States

This dataset provides industrial-scale onshore wind turbine locations in the United States, corresponding facility information, and turbine technical specifications. The database has wind turbine records that have been collected, digitized, locationally verified, and internally quality controlled. Turbines from the Federal Aviation Administration...

Diffendorfer, Jay E.; Compton, Roger; Kramer, Louisa; Ancona, Zach; Norton, Donna

Attribution: Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin

View Citation

Diffendorfer, J.E., Compton, Roger, Kramer, Louisa, Ancona, Zach, and Norton, Donna, 2017, Onshore industrial wind turbine locations for the United States (ver. 1.2, January 2017): U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 817, https://doi.org/10.3133/ds817.

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Image: Wind energy

Date published: May 16, 2018

Mapping the Nation's Wind Turbines

There are more than 57,000 wind turbines across the United States, and a new tool allows you to get up close and personal with each one!

Attribution: Energy and Minerals, Energy & Wildlife, Energy Resources Program, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian, Eastern Energy Resources Science Center

Date published: April 19, 2018

U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Energy Release Online Public Dataset and Viewer of U.S. Wind Turbine Locations and Characteristics

Today, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the American Wind Energy Association, released the United States Wind Turbine Database (USWTDB) and the USWTDB Viewer to access this new public dataset.

Attribution: Energy and Minerals, Energy Resources Program, Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian, Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin, Eastern Energy Resources Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Wind Turbines by Paul Cryan, USGS.

Date published: March 9, 2018

Raptor Interactions with Wind Energy: Case Studies from Around the World

Attempts to measure and mitigate the effects of wind turbines on wildlife have been an integral part of wind energy development.

Attribution: Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

A radio-tracked adult desert tortoise basks in the sun among the wind turbines at a wind energy facility

Date published: May 3, 2017

Wind Turbines Affect Behavior of Desert Tortoise Predators

How a wind energy facility is designed can influence the behavior of animal predators and their prey, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Wildlife Management by researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Attribution: Ecosystems, Southwest Biological Science Center

an Indiana bat hanging on to a tree trunk

Date published: January 17, 2017

A Deadly Double Punch: Together, Turbines and Disease Jeopardize Endangered Bats

Attribution: Ecosystems, Energy and Minerals, Energy & Wildlife, Fish & Wildlife Disease, Wildlife Program, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center

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January 26, 2017

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines

A desert tortoise with a radio transmitter on its shell with dozens of wind turbines in the background

December 7, 2016

Desert Tortoise and Wind Turbines

A desert tortoise in a landscape dominated by wind turbines at the Mesa field site where U.S. Geological Survey Research Ecologist Jeff Lovich has conducted research since 1995. The “wind farm”, one of many in the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs, California, has 460 turbines and an associated infrastructure of access roads, substations and transformers. The tortoise is

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Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center

Tall wind turbines in a semi-arid shrubland with a bright rainbow

August 19, 2016

Wind Turbines and Rainbow

Tall wind turbines in a semi-arid shrubland with a bright rainbow

Attribution: Southwest Biological Science Center

Image: Wind Turbine

Wind Turbine

Most modern wind turbines are taller than a 30-story building. Field biologist Apple Snider stands at the base of a turbine in New York for scale.

Attribution: Energy and Minerals

Image: Wind Turbines

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines at certain sites in North America each cause dozens of bat fatalities per year.

Attribution: Energy and Minerals

Image: Wind Turbine Blade

Wind Turbine Blade

This photo shows one of the three 135-ft blades of a turbine before installation. Although the blades of wind turbines appear to move quite slowly to the human eye, blade tips often move at speeds faster than 100 mph.

Attribution: Energy and Minerals