A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data in two new reports just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that the mix of renewable energy sources (i.e. biomass, geothermal, hydro, solar, wind) now exceeds 30% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation capacity.
Furthermore, they provided a quarter of the country’s electricity generation in the first seven months of 2024. Additionally, July marked the eleventh month in a row in which solar was the largest source of new capacity, putting it on track to become the nation’s second. -the largest source of capacity – after only natural gas – in less than three years.
Renewables made up 90% of new generation capacity in the first seven months of 2024:
In its latest monthly ‘Energy Infrastructure Update’ (with data through July 31, 2024), FERC says that 40 solar ‘units’ for a total of 1,291 MW were commissioned in July, along with two units of wind energy (141 MW ). Combined, they accounted for 76.1% of all new production capacity added during the month. Natural gas provided the balance: 450 MW.
During the first seven months of 2024, solar and wind added 14,949 MW and 2,270 MW, respectively. Combined with 212 MW of hydropower and 3 MW of biomass, renewable energy sources made up 89.7% of the added capacity. The remainder consisted of the 1,100 Vogtle-4 nuclear reactor in Georgia plus 887 MW of gas, 11 MW of oil and 3 MW of ‘other’.
Solar represented 69% of new capacity in July and 77% during the first seven months of 2024:
Solar accounted for 76.9% of all new generation commissioned in the first seven months of 2024. In July alone, solar represented 68.6% of all new capacity added.
New wind capacity YTD accounted for most of the balance: 11.7% through July.
Solar capacity expansion through the end of July was 81.2% higher than the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, new natural gas capacity was less than a tenth (9.6%) of added capacity last year. New biomass capacity was also only a tenth of the capacity added in the first seven months of 2023, while new hydro and wind capacity were 4.1% and 17.8% lower respectively.
Solar energy has now been the largest source of new generation capacity for eleven months: September 2023 – July 2024. For seven of those eleven months, wind was in second place.
Solar and wind energy now make up nearly 21% of U.S. generating capacity:
The combined capacity of just solar and wind now makes up more than one-fifth (20.9%) of the country’s total available installed utility-scale generation capacity.
However, a third or more of U.S. solar capacity consists of small-scale systems (e.g., rooftops), which is not reflected in FERC’s data. If you include that extra solar capacity, the share of solar and wind energy would be closer to a quarter of the national total.
Solar’s share of U.S. generating capacity puts the country in fourth place:
The latest capacity expansions have brought solar’s share of total available installed utility-scale generation capacity (i.e. >1 MW) to 9.1%, further increasing its lead over hydro (7.8%). The wind is currently at 11.8%. With the addition of biomass (1.1%) and geothermal energy (0.3%), renewable energy now exceeds 30% – 30.03% to be precise – of total U.S. utility-scale generation capacity.
Installed utility-scale solar has now risen to fourth place – behind natural gas (43.3%), coal (15.7%) and wind – in terms of share of generation capacity, having previously surpassed that of nuclear energy (8. 0%) had exceeded.
Solar energy will soon become the second largest source of U.S. generating capacity:
FERC reports that net “high probability” solar energy additions increased to 89,971 MW between August 2024 and July 2027 – an amount nearly four times higher than the projected net “high probability” wind energy additions (24,614 MW) , the second fastest growing resource.
FERC also projects growth for hydropower (1,328 MW), geothermal (400 MW) and biomass (127 MW). On the other hand, there is no new nuclear capacity in FERC’s three-year forecast, while coal, natural gas, and oil are expected to shrink by 21,377 MW, 3,135 MW, and 2,114 MW, respectively.
If FERC’s current “high probability” additions materialize, solar will account for more than one-seventh (15.0%) of the nation’s installed generating capacity by August 1, 2027. That would be greater than coal (13.2%) or wind energy (12.8%) and substantially more than nuclear energy (7.5%) or hydropower (7.3%). The installed capacity of utility-scale solar would thus rise to second place – behind only natural gas (40.3%).
Meanwhile, the mix of all renewable energy sources would account for 36.5% of the total available installed utility-scale generating capacity – quickly approaching that of natural gas – with solar and wind energy accounting for more than three-quarters (76.1%) of the installed renewable energy sources would matter. energy capacity.
It seems likely that the combined capacity of all renewable energy sources, including small-scale solar energy, will exceed natural gas within three years:
As noted, FERC data does not take into account the capacity of small-scale solar systems. With that factored in, total U.S. solar capacity (i.e. small-scale plus utility-scale) will likely approach – and very possibly even exceed – 300 GW within three years. In turn, the mix of all renewable energy sources would then exceed 40% of the total installed capacity, while the share of natural gas would drop to around 37%.
Additionally, FERC reports that the current three-year pipeline could actually add as much as 210,604 MW of net new solar, in addition to 69,810 MW of new wind, 8,991 MW of new hydro, 509 MW of new geothermal, and 198 MW of new geothermal energy. of new biomass. The share of renewable energy could therefore be even higher by mid-summer 2027.
Solar energy remains the fastest growing source of electricity generation in the US:
In its latest monthly ‘Electric Power Monthly’ report (with data up to 31 July 2024), EIA says that the combination of large-scale and ‘estimated’ small-scale (e.g. on rooftops) solar energy increased by 25.7 in the first seven months % has increased. of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
Utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic grew 29.7%, while small-scale solar PV increased 16.8%, making solar – again – the fastest growing source of electricity generation in the US. Collectively, solar represented 7.0% of total U.S. electricity generation for the period and 7.4% in July alone.
Small-scale solar (i.e., systems <1 MW) accounted for nearly 30% of all solar generation and provided 2% of U.S. electricity supply in the first seven months of this year.
Renewables provided 25% of US electricity generation in the first seven months of 2024:
The combination of wind and solar energy provided 17.8% of the country’s electricity generation in the first seven months of 2024.
Between January and July, electricity generation from the mix of all renewable energy sources (i.e. solar and wind, plus hydro, biomass and geothermal energy) grew by 9.1% compared to the same period a year earlier and provided 24.9% of total production. By comparison, renewable energy sources accounted for 23.9% of electricity production in the first seven months of 2023.
“Renewable energy sources, led by solar energy, continue to increase their share of U.S. generating capacity and electricity production,” noted Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “However, future growth may depend heavily on the results of the November elections.”
News item from the SUN DAY campaign
