It’s not just the US offshore wind sector that is currently challenged. Onshore is also facing major challenges as new capacity additions in the second quarter in the US fell by 45% on an annual basis, writes Recharge News with reference to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In total, 1.1 GW of new capacity was connected to the grid in the three-month period, the lowest level since just 152 MW were added in the second quarter of 2018.

The reasons for the decline are multifarious. Supply chain challenges have struck developers, whom also have to pay more for components, and there have been delays in regulatory approval processes.

Overall for the first six months of the year, 2.87 GW of new onshore wind have been installed compared to 4.78 GW in the same period of 2022, which was also the worst year since 2018 with 8.91 GW in total.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, US developers currently have a five-year pipeline of 80 GW, including offshore projects, indicating a significantly higher average pace in the coming period due to the many subsidy dollars that last year’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) sends towards renewable energy.

7.24 GW are currently under construction, while 18.11 GW are in late-stage development and 36.51 GW are announced but still in early development.

(Translated by DeepL with additional editing Christian Radich Hoffman)