generating capacity

According to new data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, solar and wind now make up more than 20% of the total US electrical generating capacity. Adding up all renewable energy sources – which also include biomass, geothermal, and hydropower – renewable energy is now nearly 30% of the total electrical generating capacity in this country.

During the first five months of 2024, 10.669 gigawatts of solar and 2.095 gigawatts of wind power came online. There were also 212 megawatts of hydropower and 3 megawatts of biomass added to generating capacity. All told, renewables constituted 89.91% of new generating capacity added this year. This does not include 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear power added at the Vogtle-4 reactor in Georgia.

Solar power is booming. The amount added this year was more than double the amount added over the same period last year. Solar has been the largest source of new generating capacity for nine months straight. Wind was the second largest.

About one-third of US solar capacity is in the form of small-scale – that is, rooftop – solar. The statistics quoted in this report do not take that into account. If it was included, solar plus wind would be closer to 25% of the US total.

Predictions are that over the next three years, nearly 90 gigawatts of additional solar power will be added to the grid as well as 23 gigawatts of wind power. Over that period, coal, natural gas, and oil are projected to shrink by more than 20 gigawatts.

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Solar and wind now make up more than 20% of US electrical generating capacity

Photo, posted October 28, 2016, courtesy of Daxis via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Texas has been a leader in wind energy for a number of years. In 2020, wind made up 23% of the state’s generating capacity and provided 20% of in-state generation. But although wind capacity in Texas has grown rapidly in recent years, solar power is expected to make up the largest share of the state’s capacity additions over the next two years.

Texas plans to add 4.6 gigawatts of utility-scale solar power this year and 5.4 gigawatts in 2022. This will give the state a total capacity of 15 gigawatts, which will nearly catch up to California, the state with the most large-scale solar power. California already has 16 gigawatts of installed solar capacity and plans to add about two more over the next two years.

The planned capacity for Texas will provide enough power for roughly 5 million homes, taking into account the intermittency of solar energy. Much of the new solar capacity will be in the Permian Basin in West Texas, which is a particularly sunny place. Because solar generation is greatest in the middle of the day, when wind generation is typically lower, the transmission line infrastructure already in place for the wind power will be adequate for the new solar installations.

The boom in solar power in Texas is driven in part by the federal solar Investment Tax Credit that is available to project developers as well as by the ever-lower cost of solar technology.

One-third of the utility-scale solar capacity planned to come online in the U.S. in the next two years will be in Texas. Currently, utility-scale solar only makes up 4% of electrical generating capacity in Texas, but that is clearly changing.

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Texas likely to add 10 GW of utility-scale solar capacity in the next two years

Photo, posted May 14, 2020, courtesy of Courtney Celley/USFWS via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Expanding solar and wind in the U.S.

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A Solar Power Boom In Texas | Earth Wise

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