The volume of PPAs is up from 1,524MW in the second quarter of 2018.
Non-utility customers cornered most of the market this year. Hormel Foods, Smithfield Foods, Crown Holdings, and Ernst & Young were first-time customers in the second quarter, along with repeat Fortune 500 customers such as Walmart and Target.
Meanwhile, demand from utilities accounted for the remaining 48% (949 MW) of second quarter PPAs, said AWEA.
So far this year, 35 customers have announced wind power purchases totalling 4.8GW.
Technology
Meanwhile, new models of larger turbines of more than 3.5MW capacity are being selected for projects.
In the second quarter, wind turbine manufacturers reported nine orders in the US totalling more than 2GW for turbines ranging in capacity from 4.2 to 4.5 MW.
"We’re seeing a growing number of wind farms select turbines capable of powering nearly twice as many homes as the average US wind turbine," AWEA CEO Tom Kiernan said.
Kiernan also called for improved transmission to support the rapid deployment.
Nearly 42GW of wind projects is under construction or in advanced development, the latter with a signed PPA, firm turbine order, or utility ownership.
"Wind technology innovation is keeping pace with demand, but we can’t afford to neglect the power grid infrastructure that delivers electricity from where it’s made to consumers," he said.
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