This is a list of large wind farms in the United States. Many of the wind farms in the United States are located in the Great Plains.
This is a list of large wind farms in the United States. Many of the wind farms in the United States are located in the Great Plains.
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Listed are wind farms with a generating capacity of at least 150 megawatts (MW) or any of the three largest farms in its state with a generating capacity of at least 120 MW.
As of 2020, there are two operational offshore wind farms in the United States. Block Island Wind Farm opened in December 2016 in Rhode Island waters. [89] [90] Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind opened in 2020.
| Farm | State | Coordinates | Capacity (MW) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project |  Wyoming | 41°42′N107°12′W / 41.700°N 107.200°W | 2,500-3,000 | [91] |
| SunZia Wind |  New Mexico | 3,500 | [92] | |
| King Pine wind farm |  Maine | 1,000 | [93] | |
| Horse Heaven Wind Farm (2022) |  Washington | 1,150 | [94] | |
| Clearwater wind farm |  Montana | 750 | [95] | |
| High Banks Wind Farm (2023) |  Kansas | 600 | [96] | |
| Young Wind Farm |  Texas | 500 | [97] | |
| Chevelon Butte wind farm |  Arizona | 477 | [98] | |
| Alle-Catt wind farm |  New York | 340 | [99] | |
| Boswell Springs Wind Farm (2023) | Wyoming | 331 | [100] | |
| Thunderhead Wind Energy |  Nebraska | 300 | [101] | |
| Seven Cowboy wind farm |  Oklahoma | 300 | [102] | |
| Canisteo wind farm | New York | 291 | [103] | |
| Sapphire Sky wind farm |  Illinois | 260 | [104] | |
| Badger Wind Farm |  North Dakota | 250 | [105] | |
| 25 Mile Creek Wind | Oklahoma | 250 | [106] | |
| Blackjack Creek Wind Farm | Texas | 240 | [107] | |
| Great Pathfinder wind farm |  Iowa | 224 | [108] | |
| Ledyard Wind Farm | Iowa | 207 | [109] | |
| Chowan County Wind Farm (2023) |  North Carolina | 188 | [110] | |
| Delta Wind Farm (2023) |  Mississippi | 184 | [111] | |
| Walleye Wind Farm |  Minnesota | 110 | [112] | |
| Bluestone Wind Farm (2023) | New York | 112 | [113] | |
| Ball Hill Wind Farm (2023) | New York | 108 | [114] | |
Wind power is a branch of the energy industry that has expanded quickly in the United States over the last several years. From January through December 2022, 434.8 terawatt-hours were generated by wind power, or 10.25% of electricity in the United States. The average wind turbine generates enough electricity in 46 minutes to power the average American home for one month. In 2019, wind power surpassed hydroelectric power as the largest renewable energy source in the U.S.
Wind power in Texas, a portion of total energy in Texas, consists of over 150 wind farms, which together have a total nameplate capacity of over 30,000 MW. If Texas were a country, it would rank fifth in the world: The installed wind capacity in Texas exceeds installed wind capacity in all countries but China, the United States, Germany and India. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state. According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), wind power accounted for at least 15.7% of the electricity generated in Texas during 2017, as wind was 17.4% of electricity generated in ERCOT, which manages 90% of Texas's power. ERCOT set a new wind output record of nearly 19.7 GW at 7:19 pm Central Standard Time on Monday, January 21, 2019.
Wind power in California had initiative and early development during Governor Jerry Brown's first two terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The state's wind power capacity has grown by nearly 350% since 2001, when it was less than 1,700 MW. In 2016, wind energy supplied about 6.9% of California's total electricity needs, or enough to power more than 1.3 million households. Most of California's wind generation is found in the Tehachapi area of Kern County, California, with some large projects in Solano, Contra Costa and Riverside counties as well. California is among the states with the largest amount of installed wind power capacity. In recent years, California has lagged behind other states when it comes to the installation of wind power. It was ranked 4th overall for wind power electrical generation at the end of 2016 behind Texas, Iowa, and Oklahoma. As of 2019, California had 5,973 megawatts (MW) of wind power generating capacity installed.
Making up over 62% of the state's generated electricity in 2022, wind power is the largest source of electricity generation in Iowa. In 2020, over 34 billion kWh of electrical energy was generated by wind power. As of 2022, Iowa has over 12,200 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity with over 6,000 wind turbines, ranking 2nd and 3rd in the nation below Texas respectively.
The U.S. state of Oregon has large wind energy resources. Many projects have been completed, most of them in rural Eastern Oregon and near the Columbia River Gorge. Wind power accounted for 12.1% of the electricity generated in Oregon in 2016.
At the end of 2015, the installed capacity of wind power in Washington was 3,075 megawatts (MW) with wind power accounting for 7,101 GWh. In 2016, it reached a generation of 8,041 GWh, comprising 7.1% of the electricity generated in the state. In 2023, it had a capacity of 3,407 MW, responsible for 7.75% of generation.
Wyoming has one of the highest wind power potentials of any state in the United States. In 2019, Wyoming had wind powered electricity generating capacity of 1,589 MW, which produced 9.85% of its electric generation, with an additional 3,753 MW under construction. However, the wind generation in that year was Wyoming's third-lowest in the 2010s. By 2020, wind capacity increased to 2738 MW and 8448 gigawatt-hours of electricity were produced from wind in 2021, more than double 2019 production. Additional wind capacity and needed transmission lines are under construction or planned, despite political headwinds from Wyoming's strong coal and oil sectors.
At the end of 2016, the installed capacity for wind power in Minnesota was 3,500 megawatts (MW). Wind power generated nearly 18 percent of Minnesota’s electricity in 2016, ranking sixth in the nation for wind energy as a share of total electricity generation.
Wind power in Illinois provided nearly 10% of the state's generated electrical power in 2020 powering 1,231,900 homes. At the end of 2020, Illinois had 6,300 megawatts (MW) of wind power installed, ranking fifth among states for installed wind turbine capacity. An additional 1,100 MW of wind power was under construction across the state at the end of 2020.
Wind power in Montana is a growing industry. Montana had over 695 MW of wind generation capability by 2016, responsible for 7.6% of in-state electricity generation.
Wind power in Indiana was limited to a few small water-pumping windmills on farms until 2008 with construction of Indiana's first utility-scale wind power facility, Goodland with a nameplate capacity of 130 MW. As of September 2017, Indiana had a total of 1897 MW of wind power capacity installed, ranking it 12th among U.S. states. Wind power was responsible for 4.8% of in-state electricity production in 2016.
Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC), also known as Mojave Wind Farm, is the third largest onshore wind energy project in the world. The Alta Wind Energy Center is a wind farm located in Tehachapi Pass of the Tehachapi Mountains, in Kern County, California. As of 2022, it is the largest wind farm in the United States, with a combined installed capacity of 1,550 MW (2,080,000 hp). The project, being developed near Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm— site of the first large-scale wind farms installed in the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s—is "a powerful illustration of the growing size and scope of modern wind projects".
Wind power in Michigan is a developing industry. The industrial base from the automotive industry has led to a number of companies producing wind turbine parts in the state. The development of wind farms in the state, however, has lagged behind. In January 2021, there were a total of 1,481 wind turbines in the state with a nameplate capacity of 2,549 MW. The nameplate total exceeded 2,000 MW when Pine River came online in March 2019. Wind provided 4.2% of the state's electricity in 2016.
The state of South Dakota is a leader in the U.S. in wind power generation with over 30% of the state's electricity generation coming from wind in 2017. In 2016, South Dakota had 583 turbines with a total capacity of 977 megawatts (MW) of wind generation capacity. In 2019, the capacity increased to 1525 MW.
The U.S. State of Oklahoma has high potential capacity for wind power in the western half of the state. In 2021, Oklahoma's installed wind generation capacity was almost 10,500 megawatts, supplying over 40% of the state's generated electricity and 85% of Oklahoma's total generating capacity from all renewable resources.
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