EDF renewable energy sources
A review by the SUN DAY campaign of semi-annual data just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) shows that the mix of renewable energy sources (i.e. biomass, geothermal, hydro, solar, wind) now amounts to 30% of total US electricity generation capacity. In addition, June marked the tenth consecutive month in which solar was the largest source of new capacity, putting the country on track to become the nation’s second-largest source of capacity within three years – behind only natural gas.
Renewables made up 99% of new generation capacity in June and 91% in the first half of 2024
In its latest monthly ‘Energy Infrastructure Update’ (with data through June 30, 2024), FERC says that 37 solar ‘units’ totaling 2,192 MW were commissioned in June, along with one unit of 34 MW of hydro. . Combined, they accounted for 98.9% of all new production capacity added during the month. Natural gas and oil provided the balance: 20 MW and 5 MW respectively.
During the first half of 2024, solar and wind energy added 13,072 MW and 2,129 MW respectively. Combined with 212 MW of hydropower and 3 MW of biomass, renewable energy sources made up 91.2% of the added capacity. The remainder consisted of the 1,100 Vogtle-4 nuclear reactor in Georgia plus 369 MW of gas, 11 MW of oil and 3 MW of ‘other’.
Solar represented 97% of new capacity in June and 77% during the first six months of 2024
The new solar capacity added between January and June this year was more than double the solar capacity (6,446 MW) added in the same period last year. Solar energy accounted for 77.4% of all new generation energy commissioned in the first half of 2024.
New wind capacity YTD accounted for most of the balance – 12.6%, but that was slightly less than the amount added in the same period in 2023 (2,761 MW).
In June alone, solar represented 97.4% of all new capacity added, followed by hydropower (1.5%).
Solar has now been the largest source of new generation capacity for ten months: September 2023-June 2024. For seven of those ten months, wind was in second place.
Over the past ten years, solar energy capacity has increased more than tenfold, while wind energy capacity has doubled.
Between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2024, installed utility-scale solar capacity grew from 9.25 GW to 116.80 GW and its share of total installed U.S. generation capacity increased more than tenfold from 0.8% to 9.0%. At the same time, the share of wind has more than doubled from 5.3% to 11.8%. The installed capacity of all renewables also doubled from 190.26 GW to 389.00 GW, while their share of total capacity grew from 16.3% to 30.0%.
The growth in solar capacity is particularly striking. From a 0.8% share in June 2014, solar grew to 3.3% over the next five years (i.e. in June 2019) and then to 7.0% a year ago. In the following six months – i.e. on January 1, 2024 – the share of solar energy had increased to 7.9% and now – just six months later – it stands at 9.0%.
Meanwhile, coal’s share of installed capacity has fallen from 28.4% in 2014 to 15.8% today, and nuclear’s share has fallen from 9.2% to 8.0%. The share of natural gas has fluctuated between 42% and 44% over the past ten years.
Solar and wind energy now make up more than one-fifth of U.S. generating capacity
The combined capacity of solar and wind alone now constitutes more than one-fifth (20.7%) 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. Including that additional solar capacity, the share of solar and wind energy would be closer to a quarter of the national total. [2]
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 9.0%, 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%), renewables now claim a 30.0% share of total U.S. utility-scale generation capacity.
Installed utility-scale solar has now risen to fourth place – behind natural gas (43.3%), coal (15.8%) and wind – in terms of share of generation capacity, having recently surpassed that of nuclear energy (8. 0%) has surpassed.
Solar energy will soon become the second largest source of U.S. generating capacity
FERC reports that net “high probability” solar energy additions total 88,526 MW between July 2024 and June 2027 – an amount nearly four times greater than the projected net “high probability” wind energy additions (23,851 MW) , the second fastest growing resource.
FERC also projects growth for hydropower (1,240 MW), geothermal (400 MW) and biomass (90 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 20,542 MW, 3,106 MW, and 1,629 MW, respectively.
If FERC’s current “high probability” additions materialize, solar will account for more than one-seventh (14.8%) of the nation’s installed generating capacity by July 1, 2027. That would be greater than coal (13.3%) or wind energy (12.7%) and substantially more than nuclear energy (7.5%) or hydropower (7.4%). The installed capacity of utility-scale solar would thus rise to second place – behind only natural gas (40.3%).
Meanwhile, the mix of all renewables would account for 36.3% of total available installed utility-scale generating capacity – quickly approaching that of natural gas – with solar and wind making up more than three-quarters of installed renewable energy capacity.
The combined capacity of all renewables, including small-scale solar, is on track to 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 212,673 MW of net new solar, in addition to 72,387 MW of new wind, 8,303 MW of new hydro, 509 MW of new geothermal, and 159 MW of new geothermal energy. of new biomass. So the share of renewable energy could be even higher by early summer 2027.
“With each passing month, renewable energy sources – led by solar energy – are increasing their contribution to the country’s electricity capacity,” noted Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “From just a fraction of one percent a decade ago, solar is now nearly one-tenth of U.S. utility-scale generation capacity, and is poised to reach 15% within three years.”
News item from the Sunday campaign