{"id":75989,"date":"2024-08-21T14:58:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-21T18:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=75989"},"modified":"2024-08-21T14:58:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-21T18:58:40","slug":"renewables-30-percent-us-power-capacity-ferc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=75989","title":{"rendered":"Renewables now make up 30% of US power capacity \u2013 FERC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"Renewables\"
\n\t\t\t\tPhoto: Openverse\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Renewables \u2013 solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydropower \u2013 are now 30% of total US electrical generating capacity, according to analysis of FERC\u2019s mid-year data. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)\u2019s latest monthly \u201cEnergy Infrastructure Update\u201d<\/a> (with data through June 30, 2024), which was reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign, also reported that June was the 10th month in a row in which solar was the largest source of new capacity. That puts solar on track to become the US\u2019s second-largest source of capacity \u2013 behind only natural gas \u2013 within three years.<\/p>\n

FERC says renewables were 99% of new generating capacity in June and 91% in H1 2024.<\/strong> 37 \u201cunits\u201d of solar totaling 2,192 megawatts (MW) were placed into service in June along with one unit of hydropower (34 MW). Combined, they accounted for 98.9% of all new generating capacity added during the month. Natural gas and oil provided the balance: 20 MW and 5 MW, respectively. (Generating capacity<\/em> is not the same as actual generation.)<\/p>\n

During the first half of 2024, solar and wind added 13,072 MW and 2,129 MW, respectively. Combined with 212 MW of hydropower and 3 MW of biomass, renewables were 91.2% of capacity added. The balance consisted of the 1,100 Vogtle-4 nuclear reactor in Georgia plus 369 MW of gas, 11-MW of oil, and 3-MW of \u201cother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Solar was 97% of new capacity in June and 77% during H1 2024.<\/strong> The new solar capacity added in the first half of 2024 was more than double the solar capacity (6,446 MW) added year-over-year. Solar accounted for 77.4% of all new generation placed into service in the first half of 2024.<\/p>\n

New wind capacity in the same period accounted for most of the balance \u2013 12.6% \u2013 which was slightly less than that added year-over-year (2,761 MW).<\/p>\n

In June alone, solar comprised 97.4% of all new capacity added, followed by hydropower (1.5%). Solar has now been the largest source of new generating capacity for ten months straight: September 2023 \u2013 June 2024. For seven of those 10 months, wind took second place.<\/p>\n

Solar plus wind are now more than a one-fifth of US generating capacity.<\/strong> The combined capacities of just solar and wind now constitute more than 20.7% of the US\u2019s total available installed utility-scale generating capacity.<\/p>\n

However, a third or more of US solar capacity is in the form of small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems<\/a> that isn\u2019t reflected in FERC\u2019s renewables data. Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind closer to a quarter of the US\u2019s total.<\/p>\n

Solar\u2019s share of US generating capacity advances it to fourth place.<\/strong> The latest capacity additions have brought solar\u2019s share of total available installed utility-scale (that is, >1 MW) generating capacity up to 9%, further expanding its lead over hydropower (7.8%). Wind is currently at 11.8%. With the inclusion of biomass (1.1%) and geothermal (0.3%), renewables now claim a 30% share of total US utility-scale generating capacity.<\/p>\n

Installed utility-scale solar has now moved into fourth place \u2013 behind natural gas (43.3%), coal (15.8%), and wind \u2013 for its share of generating capacity after having recently surpassed that of nuclear power (8%).<\/p>\n

Solar will soon become the second largest source of US generating capacity.<\/strong> FERC reports that net \u201chigh probability\u201d additions of solar between July 2024 and June 2027 total 88,526 MW \u2013 an amount almost four times the forecast net \u201chigh probability\u201d additions for wind (23,851 MW), the second fastest growing resource.<\/p>\n

FERC also foresees growth for hydropower (1,240 MW), geothermal (400 MW), and biomass (90 MW). There\u2019s no new nuclear capacity in FERC\u2019s three-year forecast, and coal, natural gas, and oil are projected to contract by 20,542 MW, 3,106 MW, and 1,629 MW, respectively.<\/p>\n

If FERC\u2019s current \u201chigh probability\u201d additions materialize, by July 1, 2027, solar will account for more than one-seventh (14.8%) of the nation\u2019s installed utility-scale generating capacity. That would be greater than either coal (13.3%) or wind (12.7%), and substantially more than either nuclear power (7.5%) or hydropower (7.4%). That means the installed capacity of utility-scale solar would move into the No. 2 spot behind natural gas (40.3%).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the mix of all renewables would account for 36.3% of total available installed utility-scale generating capacity \u2013 rapidly approaching that of natural gas \u2013 with solar and wind constituting more than three-quarters of the installed renewable energy capacity.<\/p>\n

If small-scale solar systems are taken into account, within three years, total US solar capacity is likely to approach \u2013 and very possibly surpass \u2013 300 GW. In turn, the mix of all renewables would then exceed 40% of total installed capacity, while the share of natural gas share would drop to about 37%.<\/p>\n

Ken Bossong, the executive director of nonprofit research and educational organization SUN DAY Campaign, said:<\/p>\n

\n

With each passing month, renewables \u2013 led by solar \u2013 expand their contribution to the nation\u2019s electrical capacity. <\/p>\n

Growing from just a fraction of one percent a decade ago, solar is now nearly a tenth of US utility-scale generating capacity and poised to reach 15% within three years.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read more:<\/strong> US power grid boosts capacity by 20.2 GW in the first half of 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

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FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> More.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Openverse Renewables \u2013 solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydropower \u2013 are now 30% of total US electrical generating capacity, according to analysis of FERC\u2019s mid-year data. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)\u2019s latest monthly \u201cEnergy Infrastructure Update\u201d (with data through June 30, 2024), which was reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign, also reported that June […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}