With the recent success of BWEN and NCEN I decided to put together a list of Wind Energy stocks which can be bookmarked and reviewed each time the sector gets hot over the next year. Cramer has been talking about this sector for a while - and how it a good buy for 2009. This is a list of OTCBB and Pink Sheet stocks which carry the term “sympathy plays” Basically whenever a sector gets hot - these are potential stocks that may move based on industry related news. If you have any you’d like to see added to the list please leave a comment with the ticker.

Heres the list: BWEN, NCEN, CWEY, MMGW, KWPW, CRPWF, AWNE, WNEA, CWSI, BBWPF

Receive updates for Sector Plays by signing up below

APWR

NCEN.OB

BWEN.OB

CWEY.OB

MMGW.OB

KWPW.OB

CRPWF.PK

AWNE.OB

WNEA.OB

CWSI.OB

BBWPF

DOE report: Wind power can provide 20% of US power needs by 2030

New Mexico Business Weekly

A new forecasting report from the U.S. Department of Energy asserts wind power could generate 20 percent of U.S. electricity needs by 2030.

The scenario, “while ambitious, could be feasible if the significant challenges” identified in the report are overcome.

“To dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our energy security, clean power generation at the gigawatt-scale level will be necessary, and will require us to take a comprehensive approach to scaling renewable wind power, streamlining siting and permitting processes, and expanding the domestic wind manufacturing base,” said Andy Karsner, DOE assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The report, “20% Wind Energy by 2030,” was released Monday. The DOE notes that the report does not compare the 20 percent wind scenario to other energy options, nor does it lay out any specific action plan. Rather it was written to examine the costs, challenges and key impacts of obtaining 20 percent of the nation’s energy from wind power in 2030.

More than 300 gigawatts of wind power capacity would be needed to meet the DOE’s 20 percent scenario, up from 11.6 gigawatts in mid-2007. Wind turbines currently generate a little more than 1 percent of the country’s total capacity. One gigawatt is enough to power roughly 650,000 homes.

To reach that level, the wind industry would have to quicken its pace of installations more than fivefold by 2018, to 16 gigawatts a year, up from 3 gigawatts a year today, and then sustain that pace through 2030.

It won’t be easy. To reach that level would require improved turbine technology, significant changes in transmission systems to deliver power through the electrical grid, and larger expanded markets to buy the power, the report says.

Upgrading the nation’s transmission system and building new transmission lines to bring generation capacity on-line from far-flung places is a major challenge that would require big investment. Advances in wind turbine technology and improved manufacturing capabilities are also needed to get the greatest cost reductions, while issues with siting wind farms and environmental concerns over wildlife also need to be addressed.

Still, the benefits are clear. Supplying 20 percent of our electricity from wind could reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the electric sector by 825 million metric tons, according to the report. It would also reduce water used in electricity generation, while reducing demand for fossil fuels.

Other impacts the DOE notes are a new source of income for rural landowners from leasing land for wind farms, tax revenues for municipalities in local communities, and the creation of well-paying jobs in a green industry.