EIA: SunZia, Largest US Wind Farm to Begin Operations

The SunZia Wind Project, the largest wind farm in the United States, is slated to begin commercial operations this month. The wind farm, located in New Mexico, has a total net summer generating capacity of 3,650 MW and is composed of 916 wind turbines, according to a release from the EIA.

SunZia’s capacity is more than three times larger than the next two largest wind farms, Alta Wind in Southern California (1098 MW) and Great Prairie in northern Texas (1027 MW). The SunZia Wind Project works with a high voltage transmission line to deliver the wind power generated to Arizona and California.

The largest wind farm in the world is in China. Gansu Wind Farm in China, which is also known as the Jiquan Wind Power Base, has a capacity of 10 GW, with a target capacity of double that. The UK’s Dogger Bank Wind Farm has a 3600 MW capacity and China’s Yangjiang Shapa complex in Guangdong Province has a capacity of 1.7 GW.

This development comes at a time when, according to the EIA, US power plant developers and operators plan to add 11.8 GW worth of new wind power capacity to the power grid in 2026. This is more than double the amount added last year. Two large offshore wind plants, the 800-MW Vineyard Wind 1 in Massachusetts and the 715-MW Revolution Wind in Rhode Island, which the companies now plan to bring online in 2026 after delays.

Pattern Energy started construction of the SunZia Wind Project in 2023, after almost two decades of permitting and planning. The wind farm spans three counties. The northern part of SunZia located in San Miguel and Lincoln counties has 242 turbines, while the southern part in Lincoln and Torrance counties has 674 turbines. By April 2026, some of the wind turbines were producing power and contributing to the grid during a testing phase.

Before the SunZia Wind Project came online, net summer wind generating capacity in New Mexico totaled 3997 MW. The new capacity from SunZia will bring total wind capacity in New Mexico up to 7647 MW. With this addition, wind accounts for 45% of the capacity mix in the state, followed by 19% from solar and 19% from natural gas capacity.

Most of the electricity generated at SunZia will be exported to Arizona and to Southern California. To be able to export the power generated by this project, Pattern Energy also built the SunZia Transmission Project—a 550-mile high voltage direct current transmission line that goes from the SunZia Wind Project site in central New Mexico to south-central Arizona. Of the SunZia transmission line’s 3021 MW of power capacity, 2131 MW will be delivered and consumed in Southern California via the Palo Verde Substation.

Generation from the SunZia Wind Project is reported by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) in EIA's Hourly Electric Grid Monitor. On May 15, 2026, CAISO reported 7122 MW of hourly wind generation, which is 20% higher than the previous annual record of 5922 MW in 2024.