U.S. wind power industry releases fourth quarter 2017 market report

The U.S. wind power industry delivered 7,017 megawatts (MW) of new wind power capacity representing $11 billion in new private investment in 2017, according to the U.S. Wind Industry Fourth Quarter 2017 Market Report. According to the report, 29 new wind farms totaling 4,125 MW came online across 16 states in the fourth quarter. The pipeline of wind farms under construction or in advanced development totals 28,668 MW, a 34 percent increase compared to the end of 2016.

There are now 89,077 MW of wind power installed across 41 states, enough to power 26 million American homes.

Oklahoma surpassed Iowa in the fourth quarter to rank second in the nation for total installed wind capacity, illustrating continued strong development activity throughout the American heartland from Texas north to the Dakotas. Texas remains the national leader for installed wind capacity and would be ranked sixth in the world if it were a country. Texas also led the quarter for new wind capacity, with 1,179 MW installed, followed by Oklahoma (851 MW), Iowa (334 MW), Illinois (306 MW), and Missouri (300 MW).

New long­term contracts signed for wind energy, known as power purchase agreements (PPAs), totaled 710 MW during the fourth quarter and 5,496 MW for the year, a higher PPA volume than any year since 2013. All of the new PPAs in the fourth quarter were signed by non­utility customers, including first­time buyer Bay Area Rapid Transit, as well as repeat customers Google Energy, Facebook, and Digital Realty. Non­utility customers have become a large and steady source of demand for wind power, but utilities continued to be the biggest overall customers, signing roughly 60 percent of the contracted wind capacity in 2017.

Momentum to scale up the offshore wind industry continued to build in 2017. There are now five offshore wind projects currently in advanced development, representing over 490 MW of future offshore wind capacity. In the fourth quarter, MHI Vestas invested $35 million in a testing facility at Clemson University in South Carolina for its 9.5 megawatt offshore turbine, one of the biggest in the world. Just over a year has passed since the Block Island Wind Farm, America’s first offshore wind project, began operating.