Renewable energy sources (biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for more than one-fifth (20.1%) of net domestic electrical generation during the first six months of 2019, according to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of just-released data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). A year earlier, renewables’ share was 19.9%.
The latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” (with data through June 30, 2019) reveals that solar and wind both showed continued growth.
Solar, including small-scale solar PV systems, increased by 10.5% compared to the first half of 2018 and accounted for 2.7% of the nation’s total net generation. Small-scale solar — which increased by 19.9% — provided nearly one-third (32.7%) of total solar electrical generation.
U.S. wind-generated electricity increased by 0.9% and topped that provided by hydropower by 0.4%. Wind’s share was 7.8% of total electrical output vs. 7.7% from hydropower.
Combined, wind and solar accounted for 10.5% of U.S. electrical generation through the end of June. In addition, biomass provided 1.5% and geothermal contributed a bit more than 0.4% (reflecting 2.2% growth).
Moreover, during the six-month period, electricity from renewable energy sources ran neck-and-neck with that from nuclear power — 399,585,000 vs. 400,005,000 megawatt-hours (or 20.11% vs. 20.14%) of total domestic electrical output.
In addition, during the first half of 2019, renewables further closed the gap with coal. A year ago, renewables provided 74.6% as much electricity as coal. However, growth in renewable electrical output coupled with a 13.2% drop in that of coal has resulted in renewables generating 85.0% as much electricity as coal during the first six months of 2019.
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