American Clean Power Association: Q2 2026 New Clean Energy Installations Exceed 17 GW

en.Wedoany.com Reported - The American Clean Power Association (ACP) released its latest quarterly report showing that 164 large-scale solar, wind, and energy storage projects came online in the United States in the second quarter of 2026, with combined new installed capacity pushing the nation's cumulative renewable energy installations to nearly 388 GW.

ACP stated that this was the industry's best second quarter on record. The figures are based on the industry organization's statistical methodology and can later be cross-referenced with data published by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

By technology type, solar PV led with 7.4 GW of new installations, followed by nearly 5 GW of new onshore wind, and 4.7 GW of new battery storage. The simultaneous ramp-up of all three technologies reflects growing U.S. electricity demand. Operating energy storage capacity exceeded 50 GW, approaching 53 GW on a nationwide basis, with an additional 56 GW of battery storage projects in the pipeline; storage is playing an increasingly prominent role in integrating renewables and meeting peak electricity demand.

Wind results were driven primarily by the grid connection of the SunZia Wind project. Located in New Mexico and developed by Pattern Energy, the project has a capacity of 3.65 GW, accounting for roughly three-quarters of all new wind installations in the U.S. that quarter. ACP called it the largest onshore wind farm ever built in the United States, estimating it can power 1 million households in the American West, with generation exceeding that of the Hoover Dam.

Driven by this project, New Mexico led all states with approximately 3.6 GW of new installations, ending Texas's two-and-a-half-year streak as the leader in new capacity additions. However, this shift was largely attributable to the grid connection of a single mega-project.

In terms of the project pipeline, the combined pipeline for solar, wind, and storage projects reached a record high of 205 GW, up 20 GW from a year earlier; the solar pipeline stood at 111 GW, remaining the primary driver of future capacity additions.

New clean energy contracts signed in the quarter totaled 14.5 GW, up 23% year-over-year; power purchase agreement volumes in the first half of the year also set records, driven mainly by corporations and utilities signing contracts to rapidly meet growing electricity demand.

Meanwhile, signs of weakness emerged in the wind sector: the onshore wind project pipeline contracted by 4% quarter-over-quarter. ACP attributed the decline to federal permitting delays, administrative reviews, and regulatory uncertainty.

The wind farms that came online this quarter were planned, permitted, and financed in prior years, so the installed capacity reflects the outcomes of past decisions and cannot be used to infer whether this pace can be sustained under the current policy environment. ACP indicated that without federal actions delaying or halting projects, the quarterly figures would have been higher; however, its press release did not specify the amount of capacity that failed to reach grid connection or identify the affected projects.

Overall, the expansion of U.S. clean energy has not stalled, with growth still driven by the existing project pipeline; the clear area of weakness is wind. Wind installation data over the coming quarters will serve as a measure of the actual impact of the federal policy shift.