Wind Energy in the United States
2022 wind energy numbers
Two new federal laws ushered in significant funding and support for U.S. wind energy in 2022. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of late 2021 provides more than 100 million U.S. dollars (USD) (93.2 million EUR) for wind energy [1].
This includes 60 million USD (55.4 million EUR) for research on landbased, offshore, and distributed wind energy systems, advanced manufacturing, and grid integration; as well as 40 million USD (37.2 million EUR) for wind system recycling. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed in August 2022, provides a variety of tax and investment credits for renewable energy projects [2] and includes direct federal financing of clean energy, such as 40 billion USD (37 billion EUR) in loans for innovative clean energy projects [3]. Wind power facilities account for the largest share of the country’s renewable energy production, providing 10.2% of electricity generated in 2022 [4]. Total installed wind power capacity in the United States in 2022 stood at more than 144 GW, with the majority coming from landbased wind turbines. By the end of 2022, 10 states had set offshore wind procurement targets totalling more than 81 GW [5].
To learn more about wind energy in the United States, please review the U.S. chapter in the IEA Wind TCP 2022 Annual Report.
Photo by Dennis Schroeder, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Targets and Policy
Wind energy continues to play a crucial role in achieving U.S. targets of 100% clean electricity by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 [7]. To that end, the funding and incentives provided by the IRA and IIJA will support further efforts to deploy wind power projects, develop new wind energy technologies, and reduce costs. The credits provided through the IRA include:
- Long-term extensions of both the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (in 2023, 0.0275 USD/kWh, or 0.0256 EUR/kWh), a primary driver of land-based wind deployment, and the 30% Investment Tax Credit, a driver of U.S. offshore wind energy development.
- Bonus tax credits for developing wind energy projects in “energy communities” historically dependent on fossil fuels [8] or with high percentages of domestic content.
- Manufacturing tax credits for investment in new domestic clean energy manufacturing and the domestic production of certain clean energy components such as wind turbine blades, nacelles, towers, offshore wind foundations, and specialised offshore wind vessels [9].
Progress & Operational Details
The United States added 8.6 GW of wind power capacity in 2022, including partial repowerings, where equipment is replaced at existing facilities [13]. As of December 2022, there are 96 land-based wind energy projects underway, comprising 20.8 GW of generation capacity. Half of that capacity is under construction, while the other half is in advanced development. Four states lead the offshore wind projects currently in development: New York with 4.2 GW, New Jersey with 3.8 GW, Massachusetts with 3.2 GW, and Virginia with 2.6 GW [14].
The U.S. Department of the Interior completed two milestone auctions of 11 leases for offshore wind areas in 2022. Six leases offshore New York and New Jersey covering over 488,000 acres drew winning bids for a total of approximately 4.37 billion USD (4.07 billion EUR) [15]. Five leases offshore California, which marks the first offshore U.S. wind leases in the Pacific region, covered 373,268 acres and drew 757.1 million USD (705.6 million EUR) [16].
National RDD Priorities and Budget
Wind-energy-related U.S. job totals increased by 4.5% in 2022 to 125,580 full-time workers, benefitting from continued deployment. These jobs include, among others, those in construction (45,088) and manufacturing (23,543). Domestic manufacturing content is strong for wind turbine components such as nacelle assembly and wind turbine towers. However, for blades and hubs, the United States relies mostly on imports. Passage of the IRA, with its production-based tax credits for domestic manufacturing of key wind turbine components, holds promise for future supply-chain expansion [46].