A Word About Wind’s Q2 Finance Quarterly report examines the current state of US wind and identified Q1 as the busiest for PPAs in the US since 2013. After years of false starts and delays, US offshore wind is finally gaining momentum, fuelled by innovation in turbine technologies, greater economies of scale and increased political support – at least at the state level. This is according to the latest findings outlined by industry intelligence service A Word About Wind in its Finance Quarterly Q2 report.
This financially focused, quarterly investor report series provides an insight into key M&A transactions, data on the most notable deals of the past three months, economic country forecasts and unrivalled investment analysis, four times a year.
This edition focuses on the US wind market, and that of New York in particular, and reveals that 2.4GW of wind PPAs were agreed in the first quarter of 2018 – making it the busiest quarter for PPAs in the US since 2013.
While the Trump administration and its tax reforms have given rise to considerable uncertainty, for instance, this has been more than compensated for by the initiatives of state governments in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, among others.
However, market challenges such as the Jones Act, which requires that goods shipped between US ports be carried on ships that are US-built, US-flagged and US-crewed, have the potential to disrupt the pace of growth. In addition, the proposed 25% tariff on steel – the major raw material in wind turbines – could well result in increased turbine prices.
Nevertheless, the outlook for US offshore wind remains positive. As one of the world’s largest financial centres, New York is well placed to attract investors’ interest and capital and position itself as a regional leader in offshore wind. And it has already set itself the ambitious target of generating 50% of its electricity from renewable sources and having a total offshore capacity of up to 2.4GW by 2030.