US wind industry topped 100 GW in 2019, AWEA report says

Last year, wind power was responsible for more than a third (39 percent) of new utility-scale power additions in the United States, with another 9.1 gigawatts of construction leading to a total operating wind power capacity of more than 105 GW.

Those figures, released this week in the Wind Powers America Annual Report 2019, show a surging wind industry that is now bringing $1.6 billion a year to states and communities with wind farms and investing $14 billion into new projects. With last year’s gains, it became the largest provider of renewable energy in the country, responsible for more than 7 percent of the country’s total electricity.

The U.S. wind energy supports 120,000 American jobs, 530 domestic factories, and $1.6 billion a year in revenue for states and communities that host wind farms, the report said.

“U.S. wind power has grown significantly over the past decade, as consumers across the country increasingly turn to wind to provide affordable, reliable, and clean electricity for their communities,” Tom Kiernan, American Wind Energy Association CEO, said. “Years of hard work culminated with wind power becoming America’s largest renewable energy provider in 2019, with a 50-state footprint of job creation and economic development. Wind’s near-record project pipeline indicates this growth will continue for years to come. While we are now working to mitigate the significant disruptions from COVID-19, we know that we will meet these challenges with strong industry momentum.”

Additionally, 2019 marked the third strongest year on record for wind. Thanks to its gains, nearly 60,000 wind turbines are operating across 41 states and two U.S. territories, though Texas and Iowa led the nation for largest wind power additions. South Dakota also experienced a banner year with a more than 50 percent growth in wind capacity after the installation of 506 megawatts. In Iowa and Kansas, wind is the single largest source of electricity generation now.

In the past decade, wind power nearly tripled to become the largest renewable power resource on a capacity basis. Wind power represented 30 percent of utility-scale power plant installations over the past 10 years.

The AWEA noted that another 44 GW of capacity representing $62 billion of investment are either under construction or in advanced stages of development. Both land-based and offshore opportunities are being pursued. Also, many states along the East Coast are looking to develop over 25 GW of offshore capacity by 2035. Because of this, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has named Wind turbine technicians the second-fastest-growing career in the country, much of it focused in rural America.

“Communities across the nation, especially rural communities, are experiencing first-hand the economic benefits that wind power delivers,” Kiernan said. “The wind industry’s rapid and continued growth has meant more family-sustaining jobs, more local manufacturing, more opportunities for veterans, and more support for farming communities, all while providing reliable, low-cost, and zero-carbon electricity for millions of Americans.”