Just under 13GW of onshore wind was brought online in the US in 2021, according to a new report by the American Clean Power Association.
Total installed capacity hit 12.7GW, just 3% down on the record 2020 haul, with a large chunk of this, 5.4GW, coming online in the fourth quarter.
Onshore wind beat solar, which added 12.4GW in the year and battery storage on 2.6GW.
The Clean Power Quarterly 2021 Q4 Market Report shows the US surpassed more than 200GW of total operating utility-scale clean power capacity in 2021.
However, the ACPA warned of “significant policy issues” that continue to hold back growth for the industry and threaten the country’s ability to meet emissions goals.
Over 11.4GW of projects, originally expected to come online in 2021, slipped to 2022 or 2023 due to a variety of issues.
For the solar sector this was due to trade policies and lack of regulatory certainty impacting the availability of solar panels coming into the country. The wind sector faced policy uncertainty, including the expiration of tax credits for wind projects.
The pace of installations fell significantly short of what is required to achieve a net zero emissions goal.
“Surpassing over 200 gigawatts of clean energy is a significant milestone for the United States and shows that we can achieve even more with strong public policy support for the industry,” said Heather Zichal, ACP CEO.
“Although the U.S. has reached this incredible achievement, more needs to be done, at a faster pace, to reach the climate goals and targets our country needs to achieve.
“We urge Congress to take action to create a clean energy future that will help create more good-paying American jobs and combat the climate crisis.”