Wind Stalls in Q2 but Outlook Is Strong

By Christian Roselund

An analysis of installations by S&P Global is showing again how much the ups and downs of the U.S. wind market have been driven by policy changes. While Q2 2022 brought the lowest quarterly level of wind installations in the United States in three years at only 945 megawatts, installations are expected to pick up again with the restoration of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) through the Inflation
Reduction Act.

S&P Global finds that the decline in Q2 additions, a fall of 66% from the 2,786 installed in the previous quarter, was due to the wind industry waiting to see if Congress would re-instate the PTC. It also found that wind equipment manufacturers were experiencing delays in orders that were partially attributable to supply chain disruptions and rising prices.

Since it was first introduced in 1992, the PTC has been extended at least 13 times, including multiple lapses which correlated to declines in wind installations. However, under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) the PTC has been extended through 2032, including through a technology-neutral PTC for projects that start construction after 2025.

S&P finds that there is a strong U.S. wind development pipeline, with nearly 6.2 gigawatts of projects currently under construction. Most of these projects are scheduled to come online this year. S&P Global also found another 1.5 gigawatts in advanced development and planned for 2022.

Wyoming has the largest capacity of projects in advanced development, at 6.5 gigawatts. Texas has a roughly 4-gigawatt pipeline, and Massachusetts has 2.7 gigawatts of offshore wind in advanced development or under construction.

Source: US wind additions in Q2 hit lowest level since 2018 (S&P Global)