2022 marked third-highest year for U.S. utility-scale solar, wind, and storage installations
The clean energy revolution is underway. 2022 was the third-largest year for clean energy deployment on record, with 25.5 gigawatts (GW) installed.
As these projects came online, Congress made unprecedented investments to modernize our energy systems, bringing the potential to more than triple the annual installations of wind, solar, and energy storage facilities by the end of the decade.
However, a decline in deployment volume from the previous two years underscored the continued headwinds facing the industry. Supply chain constraints, lengthy delays connecting projects to the grid, unclear trade restrictions, longstanding permitting obstacles, and uncertainty over IRA implementation hindered project development and investment activity.
To better understand the accomplishments and challenges of the clean power industry in 2022, interact with the topline data from ACP’s new Clean Power Annual Market Report. For in-depth analysis of the total U.S. clean energy market, download the full 180-page members-only report.
Annual Installations
2022 was the third-highest year for U.S. utility-scale solar, wind, and energy storage installations so far, with 25.5 GW of clean energy installed.
But despite years of steady growth, 2022 saw the first decline in pace in five years – a 15% drop in clean power installations from the previous year.
This slowdown was driven by multiple factors, including sourcing difficulties for solar panels, supply chain constraints, interconnection issues, and policy uncertainty tied to the previous phase-out schedule of the Production Tax Credit (PTC). These challenges caused delays in nearly 53 GW of projects in 2022.
Cumulative Clean Power Capacity
More than 25.5 GW of clean power was installed in 2022, representing enough electricity to power 5 million American homes. In total, nearly 228GW of clean power is operating and powering American homes and businesses.
Only four states installed more than 1 GW in 2022.
Clean Power Development Pipeline
After historic clean energy incentives were signed into law in August 2022, clean power has seen record levels of announced activity, with the development pipeline swelling to 137 GW by the end of 2022 – 14% above where it was at the same point last year.
In the 137 GW development pipeline, solar accounted for 58% of all clean power capacity. Land-based wind accounted for 15% of the pipeline, battery storage represented 13%, and offshore wind claimed the remaining 13%.
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