US has over 20 GW of wind under construction or in advanced development

The US currently has a near-record 20,280 MW of wind farms under construction or in advanced stages of development, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said on Thursday.

A total of 13,563 MW of wind capacity is now being built across the country, while another 6,717 MW is in advanced development. During the third quarter of 2016, 2,501 MW of projects moved into construction and 1,216 MW into advanced development, adding to an already strong pipeline.

According to AWEA's latest wind market report, the US installed 895 MW of wind capacity in the third quarter in seven states, led by Texas, which added 620 MW. Year-to-date installations total 1,725 MW.

The US has 75,716 MW of cumulative installed wind capacity. Wind provided 5.36% of the nation's electricity for the 12 months ending in July.

AWEA said that the sector has been able to rapidly scale up thanks to the falling cost of wind power and policy certainty. "The unprecedented five-year extension of the Production Tax Credit [PTC] at the end of last year was a beacon of certainty for our industry, and ended the boom-bust cycles we’ve previously weathered," said Chris Brown, AWEA board chairman and president of Vestas Americas.

The industry group highlighted the fact that Iowa is the first state to generate more than one third of its electricity from wind. Wind power supplied more than 35% of the state's electricity generation on a 12-month rolling average from the end of August 2015 through the end of August 2016, it said, citing new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

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