The US wind industry had its strongest year ever in 2020 as the amount of new wind power capacity added increased by 85% over 2019, according to the American Clean Power Association (ACP).
ACP Market Report Fourth Quarter 2020 found that industry added 16,913MW of wind power capacity to the grid in 2020-enough to power more than 5 million American homes.
Most of this growth came in the fourth quarter, when developers commissioned 10,593MW of capacity.
With these additions, there are now 122,478MW of operating wind power capacity in the United States, providing enough power for 38 million American homes.
Project owners commissioned 54 new wind projects across 20 states in the fourth quarter, including two of the nation’s largest single-phase wind projects in history in New Mexico and Texas.
On the heels of this activity, another 34,757MW of wind projects are either under construction or in advanced development.
Direct utility ownership of wind power continued to grow, while corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) lagged due to uncertainty caused by COVID-19.
ACP chief executive Heather Zichal said: “2020 was a banner year for the wind industry.
“Despite all the challenges COVID-19 placed on our businesses, we still shattered nearly every record for capacity and growth.
“The fourth quarter was not only the strongest quarter on record, but it also saw more wind installed in just that quarter than in any full year in the modern industry’s 40 plus year history, except 2012.”
The record-breaking growth was due to a number of factors, including strong continued demand from American consumers for clean energy to power their homes, as well as technological improvements that have allowed renewable energy prices to become more and more competitive in the marketplace.
Corporate demand also continues to play a part, as more companies turn to renewable energy to cut costs and help them achieve their sustainability goals.
In the fourth quarter specifically, the anticipated expiration of federal tax incentives led many developers to target the end of 2020 for project completion.