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Released July 25, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Jesse Broehl for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. saw 5.198 gigawatts (GW) of new utility and commercial-scale electricity generation installed in second-quarter 2025, according to IIR Energy's tracking of power plants in the U.S.
Notable trends include the continued strength of solar market share, a surprisingly large quarter for battery energy storage systems (BESS) and large gas plants slowly but steadily being added.
Click on the image at right for a pie chart showing new U.S. utility-scale power plants that came online during second-quarter 2025.
Click on the image at right for a chart of a list of the 15 largest power plants installed in the second quarter, by capacity.
Solar Continues its Dominant Market Share...For Now
Some current trends continue to be represented in the aggregate data, including the vast percentage of new power commissioned coming from solar capacity, with 3,055 megawatts (MW), or nearly 60% of total power. Solar dominance of market share has been a trend in recent quarters, seen also in IIR Energy's assessment of Q1 in this April article .
The solar boom, however, might dissipate in coming months and years following July passage by the U.S. Congress of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" that phased out tax credits for new solar and wind plants. There are last-gasp conditional tax credit allowances for wind and solar plants that start construction within the next year. Historically, the federal government has set a low bar in its requirements of developers to prove construction has started, and that could effectively extend tax credit eligibility for additional gigawatt-levels of renewables.
However, those construction-start guidelines are subject to change and expected to become more challenging. In short, if the status quo continues with those guidelines, many new solar plants will enter construction over the next year. However, if the guidelines change to become more demanding, there may be a large dropoff in renewables plant construction. New revised Internal Revenue Service guidance expected in the next one to two months will reveal which direction is more likely for the marketplace.
Most of the new Q2 solar plants brought online are very large, with the largest one the 600-MW Hornet PV Solar Plant built in Texas and owned by Magnetar Capital (Evanston, Illinois). The plant also includes a 150-MW BESS.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
Utility-scale battery storage had a strong quarter, with 1,129 MW installed. This capacity was represented by 10 plants (shown in the accompanying table below), four of which were stand-alone BESS systems drawing power from the grid and the remainder co-located with solar photovoltaic plants for charging.
Notably, the largest three plants were standalone (not connected to solar or other generation plants) and located in Texas. In general, this follows a trend of Texas being the top state by far for total new capacity installations of power plants in a given quarter, so not surprisingly BESS systems follow that trend.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) units installed in Q2 2025 by capacity.
Natural Gas Power Plants
Utility-scale natural gas power plants added 530 MW, which was comprised mostly of the 450-MW Turtle Creek Power Station, located in Nebraska and owned by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) (Omaha, Nebraska). The plant uses two 225-MW dual-fuel combustion turbines, capable of operating on natural gas or fuel oil. The peaking power plant can reach full output in less than 11 minutes, making it one of the fastest units in the OPPD fleet. OPPD says this speed is increasingly vital for managing the electric grid as it and the Southwest Power Pool grid rely more on variable wind and solar energy resources.
Wind Power Plants
New wind plants installed in the second quarter totaled 482 MW, with the majority of that capacity represented by the 300-MW Prosperity Wind Project in Illinois, owned by Apex Clean Energy (Charlottesville, Virginia). The wind plant is notable for its deployment of remarkably large wind turbines: 50 units of the Vestas V162-6.2 turbine, with 162 denoting the rotor diameter in meters (531 feet across) and 6.2 MW the nameplate capacity per unit. Around five years ago, this combination of oversized rotor diameter and generator unit was only seen in large offshore wind turbines. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Notable trends include the continued strength of solar market share, a surprisingly large quarter for battery energy storage systems (BESS) and large gas plants slowly but steadily being added.
Solar Continues its Dominant Market Share...For Now
Some current trends continue to be represented in the aggregate data, including the vast percentage of new power commissioned coming from solar capacity, with 3,055 megawatts (MW), or nearly 60% of total power. Solar dominance of market share has been a trend in recent quarters, seen also in IIR Energy's assessment of Q1 in this April article .
The solar boom, however, might dissipate in coming months and years following July passage by the U.S. Congress of the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" that phased out tax credits for new solar and wind plants. There are last-gasp conditional tax credit allowances for wind and solar plants that start construction within the next year. Historically, the federal government has set a low bar in its requirements of developers to prove construction has started, and that could effectively extend tax credit eligibility for additional gigawatt-levels of renewables.
However, those construction-start guidelines are subject to change and expected to become more challenging. In short, if the status quo continues with those guidelines, many new solar plants will enter construction over the next year. However, if the guidelines change to become more demanding, there may be a large dropoff in renewables plant construction. New revised Internal Revenue Service guidance expected in the next one to two months will reveal which direction is more likely for the marketplace.
Most of the new Q2 solar plants brought online are very large, with the largest one the 600-MW Hornet PV Solar Plant built in Texas and owned by Magnetar Capital (Evanston, Illinois). The plant also includes a 150-MW BESS.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
Utility-scale battery storage had a strong quarter, with 1,129 MW installed. This capacity was represented by 10 plants (shown in the accompanying table below), four of which were stand-alone BESS systems drawing power from the grid and the remainder co-located with solar photovoltaic plants for charging.
Notably, the largest three plants were standalone (not connected to solar or other generation plants) and located in Texas. In general, this follows a trend of Texas being the top state by far for total new capacity installations of power plants in a given quarter, so not surprisingly BESS systems follow that trend.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) units installed in Q2 2025 by capacity.
Natural Gas Power Plants
Utility-scale natural gas power plants added 530 MW, which was comprised mostly of the 450-MW Turtle Creek Power Station, located in Nebraska and owned by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) (Omaha, Nebraska). The plant uses two 225-MW dual-fuel combustion turbines, capable of operating on natural gas or fuel oil. The peaking power plant can reach full output in less than 11 minutes, making it one of the fastest units in the OPPD fleet. OPPD says this speed is increasingly vital for managing the electric grid as it and the Southwest Power Pool grid rely more on variable wind and solar energy resources.
Wind Power Plants
New wind plants installed in the second quarter totaled 482 MW, with the majority of that capacity represented by the 300-MW Prosperity Wind Project in Illinois, owned by Apex Clean Energy (Charlottesville, Virginia). The wind plant is notable for its deployment of remarkably large wind turbines: 50 units of the Vestas V162-6.2 turbine, with 162 denoting the rotor diameter in meters (531 feet across) and 6.2 MW the nameplate capacity per unit. Around five years ago, this combination of oversized rotor diameter and generator unit was only seen in large offshore wind turbines. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
