The US wind industry experienced its third strongest year on record in 2019 as project developers added 9,143MW of wind power capacity to the grid. Another 44,000MW of wind projects – representing over US$ 62 billion in investment, are either under construction or in advanced development.
Utilities and businesses also set a new record in 2019, announcing 8,726MW in new Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). And East Coast states continue to drive demand for offshore wind energy with 16GW in new offshore wind targets pledged in 2019. These findings and the latest industry data are highlighted in the newly released U.S. Wind Industry Fourth Quarter 2019 Market Report by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
The fourth quarter of 2019 saw significant growth as developers installed 35 new wind projects totaling 5,476MW in 16 states. Texas led installations for the quarter with 1,808MW, followed by Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Illinois. There are now 105,583MW of operating wind capacity in the USA, with more than 56,800 wind turbines operating across 41 states. Texas and Iowa set individual records for annual wind power additions, with Texas adding nearly 4GW of new wind projects and Iowa adding 1.7GW. These two states led all others in 2019.
