19 November 2009-- Officials from EDP and EDP Renewables said they are planning on investing $4 billion into building new U.S. wind farms through 2012. The plan expands on EDP's current capacity of 800 MW that is already in operations or under construction.
In the United States, EDP Renewables has a presence in 21 states and operates more than 2,500 MW of wind energy capacity. The company said its growth in 2009 is in large part due to the implementation by the Department of Treasury and the Department of Energy's 1603 Program that provided a regulatory framework to accelerate construction of new renewable energy capacity.
The 1603 Program gives wind and other renewable energy producers the chance to offset the costs of new projects with a 30 percent grant. Companies that take advantage of the program agree to give up certain tax credits that they would have been eligible for in the future. The direct payment spurred development by companies that did not have a federal tax liability and encouraged reinvestment of renewable energy profits.
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