Land-based wind power pipeline shrinks as price gap with solar widens — SkimNews
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- U.S. land-based wind pipeline fell 4% in Q2 2026 despite nearly 5 GW of new capacity added, per the American Clean Power Association's market report, while the broader clean power pipeline surpassed 200 GW.
- American Clean Power Association calculated at least 44 GW of wind projects are "stuck" in review at the U.S. Department of Defense, though a federal judge recently ordered the department to restart reviews after an apparent pause.
- Google accounted for 54% of corporate PPA announcements in Q2 2026, with Meta and Oracle also transacting for large volumes tied to data center load growth, per ACP's John Hensley.
- Utilities were the largest clean power purchasers in 2026, contracting 15,048 MW (71% of offtake agreements), while the commercial and industrial sector contracted 3,590 MW.
- Land-based wind PPA prices averaged $83.79/MWh in Q2 2026 — up 5.5% quarter-over-quarter and 17.5% year-over-year — versus $61.40/MWh for solar, a $22.39/MWh gap that represents a record 36% difference.
- ACP's Hensley expects the wind-solar price gap to narrow as an Aug. 6 executive order imposing a 15% tariff on polysilicon derivative imports pushes solar prices higher.
- Texas leads the U.S. with 17,404 MW/28,326 MWh of battery storage but an average project duration of just 1.6 hours due to ERCOT market design, while Google and Xcel Energy pursue a 100-hour Form Energy storage project elsewhere.
Why it matters: The record 36% wind-solar price gap lets surviving wind developers command a premium as viable projects dwindle — but with 44 GW bottlenecked at the DoD and the new polysilicon tariff likely to lift solar prices, hyperscalers like Google driving 54% of corporate PPAs may soon face shifting economics on which clean source pencils out for their data center buildouts.
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