Renewables and battery storage are set to dominate US capacity additions in 2026. Together, solar, wind, and storage account for ~99.2% of net new US capacity expected this year, totaling ~69.6 GW of utility-scale additions.
That headline is easy to repeat, but the real question is geographic: where is clean capacity already concentrated, and where are the mature clusters that are most likely to keep scaling. This map is a baseline view of those clusters across the US.
To keep the picture readable at a national scale, the map emphasizes Operational solar and wind plants and Operational battery storage sites. The current Under Development pull is only 3 projects, so it does not meaningfully change the national pattern.
Why it matters
● 2026 growth is concentrated in renewables + storage, and the map shows where the existing base already sits.
● Operational clusters hint at momentum, these are the regions with built-out project density, permitting muscle, and repeat development.
● Storage is no longer optional, battery sites increasingly appear where solar and wind density is high, reflecting grid balancing needs.
● A baseline map improves every follow-on analysis, you can quickly zoom from “national trend” to “which regions and hubs.”
What the map shows
A national footprint view of clean generation and storage sites, with the focus kept on what is already operating.
● Solar power plants (Operational)
● Wind power plants (Operational)
● Battery storage sites (Operational)
A deeper dive with DataLink
Using Rextag Energy DataLink, users can:
● Identify the densest solar, wind, and storage clusters by region
● Separate operational assets from under-development additions for any area
● Zoom into key hubs and add grid or infrastructure context layers as needed
● Export map views for internal market scans, siting discussions, and regional benchmarking
