US wind installations reached a new record high in the first quarter with 2.56GW of turbines erected and new utility-scale solar and energy storage additions geared up the country’s renewables build-out, as resilient developers and their supply chain overcame remaining Covid impacts, according to the American Clean Power Association (ACPA) in its latest market analysis.

“These numbers add up to one word: momentum. We are already exceeding the pace from the strongest previous year ever for clean power,” said Heather Zichal, CEO of the Washington, DC-based trade group. “This trend will only grow when more closely aligned with smart policy in Washington.”

New onshore wind capacity was almost 40% above first quarter 2020 led by Texas (592MW), Oklahoma (555MW) and South Dakota (462MW), with the average size of project installed coming in at 197MW, while offshore Dominion officially commissioned a two turbine, 12MW demonstration project off the Virginia coast, the first units on the federal outer continental shelf.

There are now more than 125GW of turbines spinning across the world’s second largest wind market after China. Among US states, Texas is the wind leader with almost 33.7GW followed by Iowa (11.7GW) and Oklahoma (9.5GW).

On 30 March, the US had 33.83GW pipeline of wind projects with about 25% in federal waters along the east coast, according to Clean Power Quarterly 2021 Q1. Atlantic states have committed to procure or have awarded about 11.5GW of capacity thus far.

President Joe Biden’s administration has set a US offshore wind target of 30GW by 2030 which the report said is “ambitious but achievable.” There is now 42MW installed.

Texas has 17% of nationwide onshore capacity under development. How much of this will get built is unclear after project owners there suffered billions of dollars in financial losses from a record cold snap in February.

One notable project that is going ahead in Texas is Enel Green Power’s 350MW Blue Sky which will be the country’s largest wind plus energy storage site. It will have 137MW of battery energy storage capability when operational in first half of 2022.

Among onshore and offshore wind project developers at the end of the first quarter, Invenergy had the most capacity in development (4.25GW), followed by Orsted (3.85GW), Power Company of Wyoming (3GW), Tri Global Energy (2.76GW), Dominion (2.64GW) and NextEra Energy (2.49GW).

Solar and storage shines

The US installed almost 1.2GW of utility-scale solar in the first quarter, bringing cumulative installations to 45.82GW in 46 states and the District of Colombia. Nearly 30% of installed utility solar power is in California, followed by North Carolina (11%), Texas (10%), Florida (8%), and Nevada (6%).

The utility solar project pipeline was 44.44GW on 30 March with 651 projects in advanced development, according to the report.

First quarter battery storage installations totalled 101MW, up 6% from a year earlier, with capacity nationwide 1.73GW on 30 March. California led all states with 925MW. Lithium-ion batteries with 2-to-4 hour duration predominate.

The US has 7.17GW of combined battery storage capacity in the project pipeline, including 3.53GW in advanced development and 3.64GW under construction. California had 39% of the pipeline, then Texas (15%) and Nevada (14%.

The report noted that NextEra Energy began construction in the first quarter on the 409MW Manatee Solar Energy Center in Florida, which is the world’s largest solar powered energy storage project.

Wind

'One word – momentum': record Q1 wind build powers US energy transition gear-up: ACPA