Posted on April 11, 2025
Despite a relatively stable short-term pipeline of U.S. wind power projects under construction, the five-year outlook of America’s wind capacity additions has been significantly limited due to the Trump Administration’s energy policies, Wood Mackenzie said in a new report.
The energy consultancy slashed its five-year forecast of new capacity installations to just 45 gigawatts (GW), down by 40% from the previously expected gross additions of 75.8 GW, due to U.S. policy changes and heightened economic uncertainty.
Last year saw just 5.2 GW of new U.S. wind installations—the lowest level in 10 years, according to WoodMac’s estimates. These capacity additions included 3.9 GW of onshore builds, 1.3 GW of onshore repowers, and 101 megawatts (MW) of installed offshore capacity.
This year, wind power installations are set to rebound from the 2024 lows—but not because of any favorable policies or economics. It’s simply because many of the projects ordered and contracted in the boom years 2022 and 2023 with the Biden administration’s clean energy policies are now under construction.
“The cliff in 2023 and 2024 created by the Production Tax Credit (PTC) push in 2022 will come to an end,” said Stephen Maldonado, research analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
“Despite uncertainty created by the new administration, the massive number of orders placed in 2023 culminating in projects now under construction, support the short-term forecast.”
However, the outlook beyond the next few months has been dimmed due to U.S. policy uncertainty and economic pressures, despite solid demand for electricity, according to WoodMac.
“Current projects that are under construction will likely complete, but announced projects will face greater challenges as developers reassess their strategies and project economics,” Maldonado said.
President Donald Trump’s new energy dominance agenda doesn’t include wind, and he even withdrew on Day One all areas within the Offshore Continental Shelf (OCS) from disposition for offshore wind energy leasing.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
