US wind power breaks all records in 2020

Last year was the best in history for US wind power, which added almost 17 GW more generation capacity, reaching 122 GW in the North American country.

US wind power, which is already facing the year with optimism about a change in government trends in terms of energy policy, looks back to the previous year to discover this as the best in its history. Despite the negative outbreak of COVID-19, 2020 has become the best year in history for renewable energy of this type for the North American country, which has added 85% more electricity generation capacity. This translates into 17GW more installed capacity for electricity produced by wind, reaching the not inconsiderable figure of 122GW total available to the American consumer.

The report “American Clean Power Market Report 2020“, responsible for bringing together this vitally important information to understand the state of renewable energy in the US, points to a historic rebound in the sector in the last four months of 2020, when more wind energy was installed on North American soil than in any other year in the entire historical series, except 2021. So much so that up to 54 new wind projects took place in 20 different states. Of all of them, Texas stands out, where 2,197 MW of wind power were installed; Wyoming, with 895 MW; Oklahoma, which added another 866 MW; Iowa, adding 861 MW to its electricity grid; and Missouri, which rounds out the top 5 with 786 MW.

The wind energy installed in the United States in 2020 would be capable of powering the consumption generated by 5 million homes. Something that is even more significant if we take into account that the total of 122 GW of wind generation capacity installed in the land of rock & roll would provide enough electricity for the consumption of 38 million homes. Responsible for all these figures are the approximately 60,000 wind turbines operating in this country across 41 states.

Of the total number of companies involved in these installation operations, General Electric stands out, with a 53% market share; followed by Vestas, with a 35% share; Siemens Gamesa, with 10%; and Nordex, with 3%.

Headwind for renewables in the US

However, these figures are not due to an anomaly in the sector, far from it. We are facing a complete change in trend that, given the measures that the Biden administration may take regarding the role of renewable energy, seems undeniable. And the numbers for 2021 speak for themselves: another 34,757 MW of wind energy projects are under construction or in an advanced state.

Furthermore, the report “Energy Infrastructure Update“, issued by the US regulatory mechanism in this field, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), states that 25% of the country’s electricity production capacity will be renewable in just 3 years.

This report maintains that the additions of wind energy, counting those retired equipment whose useful life will come to an end in this three-year period, will represent a net increase of 26,167 MW; those of solar energy will represent a growth of 22,593 MW; and natural gas will reach 21,822 MW.

This trend would go hand in hand with European wind energy, whose 2021 points to a growth of 13% thanks to the European Union’s energy transformation plan to combat the scars caused by the health, social and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which still seems far from ceasing its damage.