AWEA’s U.S. Wind Industry Fourth Quarter 2018 Market Report reveals that non-utility customers like AT&T, Walmart, ExxonMobil, and Shell Energy purchased a record 4,203MW of wind power capacity in 2018 through Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). Utilities signed contracts for 4,304MW of wind power in 2018 that, when combined with non-utility purchases, reached the highest level on record for overall PPA activity with 8,507MW in 2018.
New wind farms totalling 5,944MW were installed nationally in the fourth quarter of 2018. In total, the industry commissioned 7,588 MW of wind power capacity in 2018. There are now 96,488 MW of cumulative installed wind capacity in the United States, with more than 56,800 wind turbines operating across 41 states. With a pipeline of new wind farms currently under construction or in advanced development, wind power’s strong 2018 is continuing this year. Projects totalling 2,125MW started construction and a further 3,661MW entered the advanced development phase in the quarter. There are now 35,095MW of wind power capacity either under construction, 16,521MW, or in advanced development, 18,574MW, a 22% year-over-year increase in the development pipeline.
