American wind added 5.1 gigawatts in 2024 while solar added 30, and the 2026 plan widens the gap further

Wind grew far slower than solar in 2024

The United States Energy Information Administration, the federal agency that tracks how much new power capacity the country builds each year, counted 5.1 gigawatts of new wind added in 2024, against 30 gigawatts of new solar. A gigawatt is enough new capacity to power hundreds of thousands of homes. The same year, the agency counted 10.3 gigawatts of new battery storage, equipment that stores power to release later. Solar added almost 6 times as much new capacity as wind.

Onshore wind had its slowest year since 2014

Onshore wind, meaning turbines built on land rather than out at sea, added just 6.474 gigawatts across the whole country in 2023, according to the Land Based Wind Market Report from the United States Department of Energy. A summary of the same research, published by OurEnergyPolicy, calls 2023 the slowest year for new wind construction since 2014. It names 3 reasons. Interest rates were high, raising the cost of borrowing money to build a wind farm. Connecting a new wind farm to the power grid, called interconnection, faces long delays. And siting, meaning finding and winning approval to build on land, has grown harder as local opposition rises. The country now has about 150.5 gigawatts of onshore wind built up over decades, and developers spent 10.8 billion dollars on new onshore wind projects in 2023 alone.

Rising costs and disappearing credits

A 2026 report from Energy Connects names more reasons the gap keeps widening. A federal moratorium, meaning a temporary block on new approvals, and slower project approvals under the current administration. Inflation and strain on the supply chain. Tariffs, taxes on imported equipment, that raise the cost of building a wind farm. And a wind tax credit that lowers building costs and is due to end in 2026.

Harrison Sholler, an analyst at the research firm BloombergNEF, points to the cost trend behind all of it.

Solar costs have continued to come down more than previously expected, and wind costs have been rising the past couple of years.

Harrison Sholler, analyst at BloombergNEF. Source 5.

David Carroll, chief executive of Engie North America, chairs the American Clean Power Association, the trade group that represents wind and solar developers.

But we are not placing a lot of investment in the development of new wind at this moment, because the risk profile is too great.

David Carroll, chief executive of Engie North America and chair of the American Clean Power Association. Source 5.

The 2026 plan widens the gap further

For 2026, the same federal agency forecasts solar adding 43.4 gigawatts of new capacity, more than 3 times the 11.8 gigawatts forecast for wind. It forecasts battery storage adding 24 gigawatts, more than double what wind is forecast to add. The agency describes the 2026 wind total as more than double what wind actually added in 2025, without giving an exact 2025 number.

The largest onshore wind project due to open in 2026 is SunZia Wind in New Mexico, at 3,650 megawatts, meaning 3.65 gigawatts. Energy Connects reports that SunZia will supply enough power for more than a million homes in the Southwest.