Wind Powering America Fact Sheet Series

The Wind/Water Nexus The Wind/Water Nexus

Nobel laureate Richard Smalley cited energy and water as among 

humanity’s top problems for the next 50 years as the world’s population increases from 6.3 billion to 9 billion.1 The U.S. Department 

of Energy’s Wind and Hydropower Program has initiated an effort to 

explore wind energy’s role as a technical solution to this critically 

important issue in the United States and the world. This fact sheet 

outlines five areas in which wind energy can contribute.

In 2000, the national U.S. average freshwater withdrawal per capita 

was approximately 1464 gallons per day, which includes 190 gallons 

per day for domestic and commercial use, 673 gallons per day for 

industrial use, and 600 gallons per day for agricultural use.2 As the 

U.S. population increases, the demand for clean water will also 

increase—but the supply is finite.

In many regions, the water supply is shrinking because of drought 

and non-sustainable pumping of aquifers. Drought impacts in the 

West reduce the amount of available water for existing and planned 

thermal power production, urban and agriculture use, and hydropower 

production. According to Bennett Raley, Department of the Interior’s 

former Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, “The demands for 

water in many basins of the West exceed the available supply even in 

normal years.”3 Water managers in 36 states surveyed by the GAO 

said they anticipate water shortages in the next 10 years even under 

“normal conditions.”4 Forty-six state water managers predicted water 

shortages in the next 10 years under drought conditions; these shortages “may be accompanied by severe economic, environmental and 

social impacts.”5

Implementing wind energy is a means to address the national and 

global challenge of water resource management. The U.S. Department 

of Energy has identified five water application areas in which wind 

energy could contribute: thermoelectric power plant/water processes, 

irrigation, municipal water supply, desalination, and wind-hydropower 

integration. 

Thermoelectric Power Plant/Water Processes

In 2000, the largest category of water withdrawals was thermoelectric 

power, accounting for 48% of total withdrawals6 in the United States.7

The primary use of water at plants is for condensing steam, or cooling 

steam back into water. Water is also used in thermoelectric power 

plants to generate electricity, purge boilers, and wash stacks. Although 

newer plants recirculate water or use dry cooling, once-through cooling 

methods are the most common technology in use.8

The Facts

• In 2000, an estimated 195,000 Mgal/d, or 219 million acre-feet per 

year, were withdrawn for thermoelectric power.9

• The least efficient water-cooled plants use as much as 50 gallons of 

water per kilowatt-hour (kWh).10

• Water quality is affected by water use at power plants because of the 

effects of the temperature of discharged cooling water and the conditioning agents used to treat cooling water.11

The Wind/Water Nexus

Drought impacts in the West reduce the amount of available water for existing 

and planned thermal power production, urban and agriculture use, increased 

pumping requirements, and hydropower production. 
Wind Powering America Fact Sheet Series

• The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) estimates that over the next 20 

years, the majority of new 

generation plants will use

recirculating, closed-loop 

cooling technology, which 

will result in a 10% reduction

in withdrawals but a dramatic 

increase in water 

consumption.12

How Can Wind Energy Help?

Wind energy does not use or 

consume water during electricity generation. Greater additions of wind to offset fossil, 

hydropower, and nuclear assets 

in a generation portfolio will 

result in a technology that uses no water, offsetting water-dependent 

technologies. By diversifying the generating portfolio energy mix, a 

utility can manage its water supply risks. 

Table 1. Estimated Water Saved Annually by Wind Energy 

Installations in the Interior West13

Megawatts of Water Savings: Water Savings: 

Wind Energy Gallons WITHDRAWN Gallons CONSUMED

3,000 7.88 billion 4.73 billion

4,000 10.51 billion 6.31 billion

Irrigation

Irrigation is the second largest water user in the United States. 

The Facts

• In 2000, irrigation accounted for 34% of water withdrawals and 137 

billion gallons per day.14

• About 14% of U.S. farms are irrigated, representing 55 million acres 

of irrigated land.15

• Irrigation systems use diesel, gasoline, electricity, propane, or natural 

gas, depending on the local economics, availability, and pump size. 

For example, 75% of irrigation in Colorado is powered by electricity, 

while 75% of irrigation in Kansas is powered by propane/natural gas. 

Irrigation in Texas is powered almost equally by electricity, diesel, and 

propane/natural gas. Most smaller on-farm pumps are electric.16

How Can Wind Energy Help?

• Nine of the top 10 irrigation states (California, Texas, Idaho, Arkansas, 

Colorado, Nebraska, Arizona, Kansas, Washington, and Oregon17) have 

good to excellent wind resources.18

• The rising and uncertain future costs of diesel, natural gas, and even

electricity increase the opportunity for wind energy and its predictable 

and competitive cost. 

• Hybrid wind-gas or wind-diesel systems provide another option. 

Municipal Water Supply

Many municipalities face rising and variable energy prices, increasing 

water demand, and increasing competition for declining water supplies. 

In the United States, 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas19, 

and that percentage is increasing. Increasingly, water rights are 

purchased from rural areas to satisfy the urban demand. 

The Facts

• In 2000, total freshwater withdrawals for public supply were 43.3 billion gallons per day.20

• The states with the largest public supply withdrawals are (in descending order) California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Arizona.21

Many U.S. areas experience non-sustainable freshwater withdrawals. 

Source: EPRI 2003. 

Irrigation is the second largest water user in the United States. 

Coal power plant smokestacks emitting 

steam. In 2002, fossil fuel and nuclear 

plants withdrew nearly 225 billion 

gallons of water per day. 

Total Freshwater Withdrawal, 1995/Available Precipitation

%, number of counties 

in parentheses

>=500 (49)

100 to 500 (267)

30 to 100 (363)

5 to 30 (740)

1 to 5 (1078)

0 to 1 (614)
Wind Powering America Fact Sheet Series

How Can Wind Energy Help?

• Twelve of the 15 fastest-growing states (1995–2025)22, eight of the 

10 states with the largest public water supply withdrawals23, and

nine of the 10 states with the highest per capita water consumption24

have good to excellent wind resources.25

• Offshore (including the Great Lakes) wind resources are particularly 

robust26 and close to large and growing metropolitan areas.

• Municipalities with air quality requirements may favor wind solutions.27

Water pumping often involves storage, so the intermittency of wind 

may be somewhat mitigated.

• Wind energy is relatively economically competitive, predictable, and 

renewable—all benefits to municipal electricity/water providers. 

Desalination

One strategy to address impending water shortages is the development 

of new water sources, such as brackish aquifers and sea water. Desalination is utilized by coastal cities as well as inland municipalities with 

access to brackish water sources. 

The Facts

• Desalination requires a constant power supply, and electricity is the 

major cost for these plants: for brackish water, electricity use is 11% 

of total cost, and for seawater, it is 44% of operating costs for the 

plant.28

How Can Wind Energy Help?

• Many growing coastal cities with high energy costs are located in 

good wind resource areas.29

• Desalination systems can be installed off-grid, powered by wind or 

hybrid systems (such as wind-diesel). 

Wind/Hydropower Integration

Hydropower, the most established of the renewable energy technologies, offers significant benefits. It is a reliable, domestic resource 

that emits no harmful greenhouse gases. Hydropower projects also 

provide other benefits, such as water supply, flood control, irrigation, 

navigation, and recreation.

The Facts

• About 10% of U.S. electricity comes from hydropower.30

• More than 75% of the nation’s renewable energy is generated from 

hydropower.31

How Can Wind Energy Help?

• Hydroelectric generating plants can “store” energy and then release

water to generate electricity when it is needed. This ability to store

energy is an asset that can be combined with wind energy to enable 

larger-scale use of renewable energy.

Estimated U.S. freshwater* withdrawals in 2000: ~345,000 Mgal/day.
A Strong Energy Portfolio for a Strong America

Energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy will mean a stronger economy, a cleaner 

environment, and greater energy independence for America. Working with a wide array of state, 

community, industry, and university partners, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in a diverse portfolio of energy technologies. 

For more information contact:

EERE Information Center

1-877-EERE-INF (1-877-337-3463)

www.eere.energy.gov

Produced for the U.S. Department of Energy by the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 

a DOE national laboratory

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at 

least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste

Other Benefits of Wind Energy

• With today’s rising coal and gas prices, new wind plants compete 

favorably against any new electricity generation source. In fact, when

the Colorado Public Service Commission issued a ruling on the

161-MW wind project in Lamar, Colorado, the commission determined 

that wind energy provided the lowest cost of any generation resource

submitted to a solicitation bid by Xcel Energy. The commission also 

noted that unlike the other generation resources considered, the 

Lamar project avoided a future risk of increased fuel prices.32

• Wind energy boosts rural economic development and is a valuable 

crop of the future for farmers and ranchers. Wind farms are located 

in rural areas where they provide well-paying jobs, as well as land

lease revenue for farmers and ranchers (as much as $4,000 per 

turbine per year). Wind energy also provides an increased local tax

base (Prowers County, home to the Lamar project, increased its local 

tax base by $32 million). Wind turbines are compatible with rural land 

uses—crops can be grown and livestock can be grazed up to the 

base of the turbine.33

• Wind energy is clean energy that produces no emissions, which

means it doesn’t contribute to acid rain and snow, global climate 

change, smog, regional haze, mercury poisoning, water withdrawal, 

or before related chemical and thermal alterations.

Footnotes

11 R.E. Smalley. (April 3, 2005). Our Energy Challenge. 27th Illinois Junior Science and

Humanities Symposium. http://cohesion.rice.edu/NaturalSciences/Smalley/emplibrary

040305%20Illinois%20Science%20Symposium.ppt

2Gleick, P. (2004). The World’s Water 2004–2005: The Biennial Report on Freshwater 

Resources. Island Press, p. 267.

3Statement before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Oversight

Hearing on Water in the West. March 9, 2004. www.doi.gov/water2025/raley3-9-04.doc

4United States General Accounting Office. (2003). Freshwater Supply: States’ Views of

How Federal Agencies Could Help Them Meet the Challenges of Expected Shortages.

GAO Highlights, July. www.gao.gov/new.items/d03514.pdf

5United States General Accounting Office. (2003). Freshwater Supply: States’ Views of

How Federal Agencies Could Help Them Meet the Challenges of Expected Shortages.

GAO Highlights, July. www.gao.gov/new.items/d03514.pdf

6Water withdrawals are returned to the local surface or groundwater and are available

for subsequent use; the term consumption is used to denote water that is consumed

and not available for subsequent use.

7Hutson, S.S., et al. (2004). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000. USGS

Circular 1268. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/index.html

8EIA, 2002 and 2000. Form 767. Steam-Electric Plant Operation and Design Report. 

Schedule V. Cooling System Information. Section A. Annual Operations. www.eia.doe.

gov/cneaf/electricity/forms/eia767/eia767.pdf

9Hutson, S.S., et al. (2004). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000. USGS

Circular 1268. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/index.html

10Clean Air Task Force and Western Resource Advocates. (2003). The Last Straw: Water

 Use by Power Plants in the Arid West. www.westernresourceadvocates.org/media/pdf/

 WaterBklet-Final.pdf

11Clean Air Task Force and Western Resource Advocates. (2003). The Last Straw: Water

 Use by Power Plants in the Arid West. www.westernresourceadvocates.org/media/pdf/

 WaterBklet-Final.pdf

DOE/GO-102006-2218 • April 2006

12Hoffman, J., et al. (2004). Estimating Freshwater Needs to Meet 2025 Electricity Gener-

 ating Forecasts. U.S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory. 

 www.netl.doe.gov/coal/E&WR/pubs/

 Estimating%20Freshwater%20Needs%20to%202025.pdf

13Based on “The Last Straw” (see www.westernresourceadvocates.org/media/pandp.php),

 the regional average for seven western states (AZ, CO, MT, NV, NM, UT, and WY) for 

 water withdrawals is roughly 1 gallon/kWh and for consumption is 0.6 gallons/kWh. 

 Since wind energy uses essentially no water, the water withdrawal and consumption 

 numbers, using the formula below, reflect how much would be saved annually by using

 wind to generate that same amount of energy:

 3000 MW x 0.30 (capacity factor) x 8760 (hours/year) x 1000 gallons/MWh (Last Straw

 seven-state average) = 7.88 billion gallons/yr withdrawn.

 3000 MW x 0.30 x 8760 x 600 = 4.73 billion gallons/year consumed.

 4000 MW x 0.30 x 8760 x 1000 gallons/MWh = 10.51 billion gallons/year withdrawn.

 4000 MW x 0.30 x 8760 x 600 = 6.31 billion gallons/year consumed.

 Note also that because once-through cooling systems are much more common in the

 rest of the United States, water withdrawals per kWh are many times higher, creating

 even greater estimated savings from wind power.

14Hutson, S.S., et al. (2004). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000. USGS

 Circular 1268. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/index.html

15USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services. www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/

 volume1/us/st99_1_009_010.pdf

16Clark, R.N. Irrigation. A presentation to the National Wind Coordinating Committee,

 Business Meeting #34, January 19, 2005. www.nationalwind.org/events/business/

 34/presentations/Irrigation.pdf

17Clark, R.N. Irrigation. A presentation to the National Wind Coordinating Committee,

 Business Meeting #34, January 19, 2005. www.nationalwind.org/events/business/

 34/presentations/Irrigation.pdf

18State Wind Resource Maps. www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/

 wind_maps.asp

19Federal Highway Administration Web site. Census 2000 Population Statistics, U.S.

 Population Living in Urban vs. Rural Areas. www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/census/

 cps2k.htm

20Hutson, S.S., et al. (2004). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000. USGS

 Circular 1268. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/index.html

21Hutson, S.S., et al. (2004). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000. USGS

 Circular 1268. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/htdocs/table05.html

22Campbell, P. Population Projections, States, 1995–2025. U.S. Census Bureau. P25-1131

 May 1997. www.census.gov/prod/2/pop/p25-1131.pdf 

23Hutson, S.S., et al. (2004). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000. USGS

 Circular 1268. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/index.html

24Hutson, S.S., et al. (2004). Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000. USGS

 Circular 1268. http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1268/index.html

25State Wind Resource Maps. www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydrowindpoweringamerica/

 wind_maps.asp; New England Wind Map. www.truewind.teamcamelot.com/ne/

26Michigan Wind Resource Map. www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/

 windpoweringamerica/maps_template.asp?stateab=mi

27Improving Regional Air Quality with Wind Energy. www.nrel.gov/docs/fy05osti/38071.pdf

28U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Sandia National Laboratories. (2003). Desalination and

 Water Purification Technology Roadmap—A Report of the Executive Committee.

 www.usbr.gov/pmts/water/media/pdfs/roadmapreport.pdf 

29State Wind Resource Maps. www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/

 windpoweringamerica/wind_maps.asp

30www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/about.html 

31www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/about.html 

32Lehr, R.L., et al. (2001). Colorado Public Utility Commission’s Xcel Wind Decision. www.

 eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/pdfs/xcel_wind_decision.pdf

33Wind Energy for Rural Economic Development. www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/

 windpoweringamerica/pdfs/wpa/33590_econ_dev.pdf