U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program

Wind Energy Budget

The total budget for the Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program's wind energy research for fiscal year 2006 was $39.9 million. In FY 2007 the budget was increased to $49.3 million. The budget for FY 2008 is $48.7 million. The following charts show the budget breakdown for the program research areas in FY 2008 and the history of program funding.

Graph of the fiscal year 2008 Wind Energy Program Budget Breakdown. The total budget is listed as $48,740,000. Of this total, supporting research and testing received $16,811,000, or 34% of the total budget. Systems integration received 15,488,000 (32%), technology acceptance received $6,856,000 (14%), low Wind Speed Technology received $6,381,000 (13%), and distributed wind technology received $3,205,000 (7%). All figures are rounded.

A graph illustrating the Wind Program's budget history from 1975 to 2007. It starts in 1975 with approximately $58 million in funding, then plunges to $15 million in 1976. It slowly climbs over the next few years until it reaches $60 million in 1980 and $61 million in 1981. It then steadily declines to $54 million in 1981, hovers just short of $30 million between 1982 and 1986, and finally reaches its lowest point at $9 million from 1988, where it remains until it begins to increase in 1991. It climbs to $49 million in 1995, then averages approximately $32 million until 2001, where it hovers around $40 million until 2007's $49 million allotment.