Texas leads Q3 wind additions as new offshore projects emerge

Fifty-five percent of the 2,167 MW of third-quarter wind capacity additions in the U.S. occurred in Texas.

The Lone Star State added 1,195 MW of wind power capacity from July to September, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. Texas, one of the largest wind energy producers in the world, has 33.1 GW of installed capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Department. The new wind power came online as the state redesigns the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. market amid grid reliability issues exposed by a deadly winter storm in February.

Nationally, third-quarter wind additions were 44 MW lower than the year-ago period, but the industry is still on track for a hot year. Developers have connected 8,594 MW to U.S. grids in the first three quarters of the year; that beats the 6,481 MW developers added in the first three quarters of 2020.

Looking ahead, the U.S. has a wind power capacity pipeline of 61.7 GW through 2025. Of that capacity, 21%, or 12,854 MW, is under construction.

Texas' diverse economy helped drive demand. PepsiCo Inc., Hormel Foods Corp. and steelmaker Nucor Corp. contracted for supply from Ørsted's 366.6-MW Western Trail Wind Project in Wilbarger County, the largest wind farm to go online in the quarter in Texas. Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. signed virtual power agreements for the output of Duke Energy Corp.'s 182.4-MW Maryneal Wind Project in Nolan County.

New wind farms began generating power in Wyoming, Oklahoma, New York and California.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary PacifiCorp connected the 503-MW TB Flats I & II Wind Project in Carbon County, Wyo.; it was the largest U.S. project to begin producing power in the quarter.

Berkshire acquired the project in a deal with an investor group that includes Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy and Chicago-based Invenergy LLC. The acquisition was part of PacifiCorp's $3.1 billion plan to add 1,150 MW of wind power in Wyoming.

Developers announced four new projects in the quarter, totaling 2,435 MW of capacity. S&P Global Market Intelligence estimated the construction costs of the projects will surpass $11.8 billion.

The majority of that capacity comes from two new offshore wind projects.

US Wind, majority owned by Renexia SpA, announced the proposed 1,200-MW Momentum Offshore Wind Project off the shores of Maryland. US Wind said it will invest $150 million in a new steel fabrication facility in the state to create monopiles — a foundation to support offshore wind turbines — for the burgeoning offshore wind industry. US Wind put in three bids to state regulators on the project, with a final completion date of 2028.

Renexia is a subsidiary of Italian infrastructure developer Toto Holding.

Ørsted US Offshore Wind announced its proposed 760-MW Skipjack 2 Offshore Wind Project. The subsidiary of Danish developer Ørsted A/S said in July that it bid into a Maryland procurement for the project, which would be an addition to its proposed 120-MW Skipjack Offshore Wind Project.