Clean Energy Deployment Slowed Substantially in Q2 As Policy Inaction And Economic Uncertainty Imperils Energy Transition

The rate of clean energy deployment slowed substantially in the second quarter as policy headwinds, economic factors facing the industry, and trade issues have impacted project development and increased the backlog of new project delays, according to ACP’s Clean Power Quarterly Market Report Q2 2022.

During the second quarter, the industry saw a 55 percent decline in project installations from the same period in 2021, with 3,188 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale clean power capacity installed. This makes the second quarter the lowest quarter for clean energy capacity additions since the third quarter of 2019. 

“We have been warning about the storm of policy and economic headwinds the clean power industry is facing, and this is a step in the wrong direction. Congressional inaction and uncertainty on long-term tax policy, tariff and trade restrictions, and transmission constraints all impact the demand for clean energy at a time when we need to be rapidly scaling up development,” said ACP CEO Heather Zichal. “Our member companies are ready to make the investment decisions necessary for building America’s clean energy economy, but the current business and policy environment is slowing the rate of deployment.”

Additional market headwinds impacting the rate of development include commodity prices, COVID pandemic-related delays, supply chain issues, and increased operating costs. 

Energy storage was the only technology to experience growth, with a 13 percent increase in installations. Solar installations were down 53 percent compared to the same quarter in 2021. Concerningly, onshore wind installations were 78 percent lower when compared to the same time period last year.

Project developers brought 60 new projects online to the grid in the second quarter, representing $4.3 billion in capital investments. The industry installed 3,188 MW of new capacity from 41 solar projects, 14 storage projects, and 5 wind projects across 27 states. Total installations for the year are now 9,795 MW, compared to more than 13,000 MW of projects brought online in the first half of 2021. 

The total operating clean power capacity in the country is now over 211 gigawatts (GW) – enough to power 58 million homes in America. Broken down by technology, operating clean power capacity is made up of 139,143 MW of land-based wind, 65,749 MW of solar, 42 MW of offshore wind, and 6,471 MW/16,792 MWh of battery storage capacity. Wind and solar have consistently provided nearly 14% of America’s electricity over the past year. So, our american customer also care about the casting compoents. Our earth anchor system products is environmental friendliness.