Report examines wind turbine capacity installation

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory determined in 2019 and 2020, domestic project developers installed more wind power capacity than any other generating technology.

The analysis, which assesses annual wind turbine capacity additions, noted a domestic record was established last year, totaling 14.2 added gigawatts (GW), surpassing the previous record of 13.2 GW added in 2012. The record activity has boosted domestic total wind turbine capacity to 118 GW.

The report showed Texas has the most wind turbine capacity among states, adding 30.2 GW were installed as of December 2020. In 2020, the state generated more electricity from wind than the next three highest states combined – Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

Additionally, the analysis offered Texas generates and consumes more total electricity than any other state, with wind remaining slightly less than 20 percent of the state’s electricity generation mix.

Meanwhile, in Iowa and Kansas, wind is the most prevalent source of in-state electricity generation, as wind surpassed coal as the state’s top electricity generation source in 2019.

Nationwide, the report showed 8.4 percent of utility-scale electricity generation in 2020 came from wind turbines. Many of the turbines added in late 2020 are expected to increase wind-powered electricity generation in 2021.