The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently released its Wind Powers America Annual Report 2019. According to the report, wind power emerged from 2019 as America’s top choice for new power after building 9.1 gigawatts (GW), representing 39% of new utility-scale power additions. With these additions, operating wind power capacity in the U.S. now stands at over 105 GW, enough to power 32 million American homes. It became the largest provider of renewable energy in the country, supplying over 7% of the nation’s electricity. As of 2019, U.S. wind energy supports a record 120,000 American jobs, 530 domestic factories and $1.6 billion a year in revenue for states and communities that host wind farms.
Additional findings from this 2019 annual report include:
- Project developers invested nearly $14 billion in new wind projects totaling 9,137 megawatts (MW).
- Total operating wind power capacity increased 9.6 percent to 105,591 MW, with nearly 60,000 wind turbines now operating across 41 states and two territories.
- Texas and Iowa led the country in wind power additions, with both states installing individual record amounts of wind power for a single year. South Dakota had the largest percentage growth in 2019, increasing its installed wind capacity by over 50 percent after installing 506 MW. In total, wind project developers delivered 55 projects in 19 states during 2019.
- At the state level, wind provided more than 20 percent of the electricity generated in six states –Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. In Iowa and Kansas, wind is now the single largest source of electricity generation. Both states generated over 40 percent of their electricity from wind power last year.
- As of 2019, over 530 U.S. factories across 43 states build wind turbine components, employing over 26,000 Americans. Many of these jobs are in rural or small towns across America.
- Wind energy reduced U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 198 million metric tons in 2019, the equivalent of taking 42 million cars off the road. Wind projects also saved 103 billion gallons of water last year and helped address air pollution, reducing sulfur dioxide emissions by 232,000 metric tons and nitrogen oxides by 168,000 metric tons.
- Utilities and corporate buyers announced over 8,700 MW of new wind power purchase agreements (PPAs). Utilities signed up for over 5,000 MW of wind energy, while corporate buyers announced 3,460 MW of PPAs.
- COVID-19 is putting an estimated 25 GW of wind projects at risk, representing $35 billion in investment.
To learn more about the report's findings, read the original release from AWEA.