US wind industry installed 1,400 MW in 1st quarter

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. wind industry installed 1,400 megawatts (MW) of new capacity in the first quarter of this year, enough to power about 400,000 homes, an industry trade group said on Wednesday.

The American Wind Energy Association said the new wind power facilities bring the nation's total wind power capacity to 18,000 MW, or enough to power 5 million homes.

Texas added over half of the new capacity, with nine other states making up the difference. The additions represent about $3 billion of new capacity.

More than 4,000 MW of projects are currently under construction nationwide, the AWEA said.

Also on Wednesday, the group said the share of U.S.-made wind turbine components has risen to about 50 percent from less than 30 percent three years ago. (Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Andre Grenon)