Dive Brief:
- Wind developers will add 3 GW of capacity in the fourth quarter of this year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration is projecting, a significant jump over the first three quarters of the year when less than 2 GW was installed.
- Another 11 GW of wind projects have anticipated completion dates in 2015, primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota.
- Congress' decision to extend the wind production tax credit will likely have no impact on capacity additions beyond what has already been planned, EIA said, because of the timing of the rules.
Dive Insight:
The production tax credit was extended, but the EIA said it is unlikely to have an impact on planned capacity additions because of rules that state construction must be underway by the end of the year.
"Projects could meet the construction deadline by either starting physical work or through the safe harbor clause, which required them to spend at least 5% of the project cost prior to the end of 2013 and maintain continuous progress thereafter," EIA said. "Under the 2013 extension and subsequent IRS guidance, wind projects attempting to qualify for the PTC through this safe harbor provision had an incentive to enter service prior to the end of 2015 in order to ensure PTC eligibility."
EIA said the change in eligibility requirements and the timing of the 2013 extension (the deadline wasn't extended past 2012 until the beginning of 2013) contributed to wind capacity additions falling from an all-time high of 13 GW in 2012 to less than 1 GW in 2013.
There were 62 GW of wind power online as of September. Adding in 3 GW of anticipated additions in the last quarter of this year and 11 GW next year, and the United States is on pace for 76 GW of installed wind capacity by the end of next year, EIA said.