Wind generation in the US increased by 27 percent in 2011 as compared with 2010, continuing a trend of rapid growth, the government said Monday.

Tax credits and grants for electricity from certain renewable sources have encouraged capacity additions and increased generation from wind and other renewable sources, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Monday.

Wind energy is the largest source of non-hydroelectric renewable electricity in the US, contributing 61 percent of the nearly 200 gigawatthours of non-hydroelectric renewable generation in 2011, Xinhua reported quoting the EIA.

In its Annual Energy outlook 2012, the agency estimates that increased generation from renewable energy resources in the power sector will account for 33 percent of total electricity generation between 2010 and 2035.

The share of non-hydro renewable sources is expected to rise from 4 percent to 9 percent over the period.

Biomass generation is estimated to expand nearly four-fold during that period. Solar is expected to grow nearly seven-fold by 2035.

Source: Indo-Asia News Service