Clean Power Quarterly Market Report | Q1 2023

First Quarter Installations Fall 36% as Challenges Continue to Constrain the Industry

In the first quarter of 2023, the industry installed 4,079 MW of utility-scale clean power capacity, enough to power nearly 904,000 American homes. First quarter installations fell below recent levels, down 36% compared to the first quarter of 2022, according to the Q1 2023 Clean Power Quarterly Market Report. This is the lowest first quarter the industry has experienced since 2020. All three technologies experienced significant declines compared to the first quarter of 2022. Wind installations decreased by 50%, battery storage by 32%, and solar by 23%.

First quarter installs were low in part due to the challenges that continue to delay clean power project timelines. Solar is the most delayed technology. Seesawing regulations due to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (DOC) ongoing anticircumvention investigation delayed or forced changes to solar module delivery plans. Furthermore, long release timelines for modules detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) further pushed back delivery timelines for some major solar projects, too.

Despite a fall in quarterly installations, the pipeline continues to grow. The 138,808 MW in the pipeline represents an 11% increase from Q1 2022, and a 62% increase from Q1 2021. Solar continues to be the leading technology in the pipeline, accounting for 59% of all clean power capacity in development. Land-based wind accounts for 15% of the pipeline, battery storage represents 14%, and offshore wind claims the remaining 13%.

Our Clean Power Quarterly provides a snapshot view of the latest U.S. utility wind, solar, and battery storage industry activity and trends. The report includes first quarter installations, projects under construction and in advanced development, new power purchase agreements, OEM market share, project acquisition activity, offshore wind energy activity, and much, much more.

Read the Report

• Public Report: The free public version of the report, which provides a summary of key takeaways and graphics from the full report, is available for download below.
• Appendices: Interested in the data behind the report? Members can download the appendices here and check out the underlying data in spreadsheet form here.
• Press Release: Read our press release for more.