The American wind industry installed 5,001MW during the fourth quarter of 2015, more installations than in all of 2014, according to data released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
Overall in 2015 the American wind industry installed 8,598MW, the third largest amount ever installed in a year and a 77 per cent increase over 2014. AWEA highlighted the industry’s sustained growth in releasing its US Wind Industry Fourth Quarter 2015 Market Report. The strong market activity is expected to continue, with a bipartisan vote by Congress late last year for a multi-year extension of the Production Tax Credit (PTC), supplying the industry with much-needed policy certainty. As 2016 began, an additional 9,400MW were under construction. Altogether there is now 74,472MW of installed wind capacity in the United States and more than 52,000 operating wind turbines.
