Wind deployments drop substantially in 2022 for Minnesota and the rest of the United States

Newly released data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that new wind installations fell in 2022, relative to 2021 and 2020, for Minnesota and the United States as a whole, falling due to lower federal subsidies available that year, according to S&P Global.

Minnesota wind capacity additions, calculated here by subtracting the amount of installed wind capacity reported in each year from the previous year’s total, fell from 386 megawatts (MW) of capacity to just 135 MW of capacity, which you can see in the graph below.

The drop in Minnesota wind installations is likely the product of two main factors. One, the declining subsidies presented a challenge to the industry as a whole, which can be seen by the fact that wind installations were down nationwide in 2022, and secondly, many utilities are opting to build their new wind projects in North and South Dakota, where it is windier.

Despite the lucrative subsidies passed by Congress in the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” quarterly wind in-service data from S&P Global show that quarters one and two in 2023 had fewer wind turbines placed into service than in 2022.

Wind and solar are currently facing supply chain headwinds and rising interest rates, which could weigh down the speed of future deployments. Time will tell.