Wind Prices Hit Record Lows As Wind Boom Grows

Annual DOE Report Finds that Wind Energy Is Being Sold at Record-Low Prices

August 12, 2019 (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

“…Wind power capacity additions continued at a robust pace in 2018: $11 billion was invested in new wind power plants in 2018…[and] wind energy contributed 6.5% of the nation’s electricity supply, more than 10% of total electricity generation in fourteen states, and more than 30% in three…232 gigawatts of wind are seeking transmission interconnection, 2% of which represents proposed wind plants paired with storage…Bigger turbines are enhancing wind project performance…The average 2018 capacity factor among projects built from 2014 through 2017 was 42%, compared to an average of 31% among projects built from 2004 to 2011 and 24% among projects built from 1998 to 2001… The average installed cost of wind projects in 2018 was $1,470/kW, down 40 percent since the peak in 2009 and 2010…

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After topping out at 7¢/kWh for power purchase agreements (PPAs) executed in 2009, the national average price of wind PPAs has dropped to below 2¢/kWh… These prices, which are possible in part due to federal tax support, compare favorably to the projected future fuel costs of gas-fired generation. Solar PPA prices have declined precipitously, pressuring wind’s competitive position…Wind sector employment reached a new high of more than 114,000 full-time workers at the end of 2018…[F]orecasts for the domestic market show expected wind power capacity additions of 9,000-12,000 MW in 2019 and 11,000-15,000 in 2020, with market contraction anticipated beginning in 2021 as those tax incentives are phased out…” click here for more

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