EIA report notes surge of wind energy capacity added in 2020

More wind power capacity was installed in 2019 and 2020 than any other generating technology, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

EIA data showed that annual wind turbine capacity additions in the United States set a record in 2020, totaling 14.2 gigawatts (GW). That eclipsed the previous record of 13.2 GW set in 2012. Currently, the total wind turbine capacity in the United States is 118 GW.

A key driver was the impending phaseout of the full value of the U.S. production tax credit (PTC) at the end of 2020 as more developers took advantage of it. However, in December 2020, Congress extended the PTC for another year.

Texas has the most wind turbine capacity in 2020 with 30.2 GW installed. Texas generated more electricity from wind than the next three highest states — Iowa, Oklahoma, and Kansas — combined. Wind remains slightly less than 20 percent of the state’s electricity generation mix.

However, in Iowa and Kansas, wind is a far more prevalent source of in-state electricity generation. In both states, wind surpassed coal as the state’s top electricity generation source in 2019.

Across the nation, 8.4 percent of utility-scale electricity generation in 2020 came from wind turbines. EIA expects wind’s share of electricity generation to increase to 10 percent in 2021.