Renewable energy sources provided 97.4% of new domestic electrical generating capacity and 24.4% of actual generation during the first quarter of 2022, according to a review of FERC and EIA data by the SUN DAY Campaign.
According to FERC data, utility-scale solar and wind facilities added 1,639 MW and 4,114 MW, respectively. Hydropower added another 5 MW. Natural gas contributed the remaining 154 MW of the the 5,912 MW in new capacity reported in the first three months of the year.
Credit: Blackburn and IL-Solar
In March alone, wind (1,418 MW) and solar (240 MW) accounted for 100% of the new capacity brought online.
Renewables now provide more than one-quarter (26.4%) of total U.S. available installed generating capacity — a share significantly greater than that of coal (18.2%) and more than three-times that of nuclear power (8.2%). Only natural gas (43.9%) provides a greater share of capacity.
In addition, actual electrical generation by renewable energy sources set new records for both the first quarter and just the month of March.
According to EIA data, renewable energy sources (including residential solar) increased their electrical output in Q1 by 18.3% compared to the same period a year earlier, and provided 24.4% of total U.S. electrical generation. In March alone, renewables hit 27.8%.
For the quarter, electrical generation by solar sources grew by 31.8% while wind increased by 22.9%. Renewables comfortably out-produced both coal and nuclear power by 16.4% and 30.3%, respectively.
FERC data indicate that the share of generating capacity from solar and wind is on track to increase significantly over the next three years. FERC notes that there may be as much as 183,697 MW of new solar capacity in the pipeline with 60,288 MW classified as “high probability” additions and no offsetting “retirements.” The “high probability” additions alone would nearly double utility-scale solar’s current installed capacity of 72,070 MW while successful completion of all projects in the pipeline would more than triple it.
In addition, new wind capacity by March 2025 could total 72,341 MW with 18,339 MW being “high probability” and only 151 MW of retirements expected. Thus, installed wind capacity could grow by at least 13% and possibly by much more.
“High probability” generation capacity additions for utility-scale solar and wind combined, minus anticipated retirements, reflect a projected net increase of 78,416 MW over the next three years, or almost 2,200 MW per month. That figure does not include new distributed, small-scale solar capacity or additions by hydropower, geothermal, and biomass. By comparison, net growth for natural gas will be only 10,778 MW. Thus, solar and wind together are forecast to provide more than seven-times as much new net generating capacity as natural gas by March 2025, not to mention almost 360-times as much net new capacity as nuclear power (projected to add only 218 MW). Coal is forecast to drop by 30,241 MW.
If just FERC’s latest “high probability” projections materialize, by March 2025, renewable energy sources should provide nearly one-third (31.31%) of the nation’s total available installed generating capacity with utility-scale solar and wind accounting for 10.09% and 12.00%, respectively.
“2022 has begun as a strong year for solar and wind notwithstanding headwinds such as disruptions in global supply chains, trade disputes, and access to transmission,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director Ken Bossong. “Together with other renewable energy sources, they seem poised to become the fastest growing sources of both new capacity and actual generation in 2022.”
News item from SUN DAY
“According to EIA data, renewable energy sources (including residential solar) increased their electrical output in Q1 by 18.3% compared to the same period a year earlier, and provided 24.4% of total U.S. electrical generation. In March alone, renewables hit 27.8%.
The EIA reports and yet have been off quite a bit over the years with ultra-conservative energy numbers that fail to get close to what’s been done so far. The numbers on individual solar PV on homes does not have an efficiency number rating as electricity is generated and used at the site and not being sent to the local homes on grids that are lossy from end to end. Right here just recently Jinko Solar says their TopCon solar PV panels are around 25% efficient. When one hits the 20% efficiency mark with solar PV, they were at least as efficient as the utility at getting the energy they need from the sun to run the home during the day. The up side is that with home based solar PV, you can “overdesign” your system to take into account things like 10% dusting loss, LID loss and design a system to add say 6 more panels to bring that solar PV system out to a 30 or more year design. As smart ESS becomes a small microgrid for the home, one gains more advantage with their own system compared to the grandiose schemes of the interlopers trying to find their place in the flow of energy from point A to point B. Basically if one can generate enough energy to run one’s home for 16 hours from the sun, there’s only 8 hours of utility electricity to purchase each day. If this is at night during off peak energy, then the homeowner gets the benefit of the cheapest energy of the day from the utility.
So, what happens in five to ten years when wind farms and solar PV generation represents 51% of energy generated a day, what happens to fueled generation?
I had no idea solar was so prevalent in America for energy production. Wow, 97.4% of new domestic electrical generating capacity and 24.4% of actual generation. It will be exciting to see the progression that occurs once the supply chain issues become more manageable to US companies. Thank you for the article to update us on his information. I have some friends I talk to about solar, and your article is full of quotable stats to provide to them.
Here’s the stat that really blows my mind.
In 2008 the US had 340 MW of installed solar, total.
This year we are adding that much new solar every 3 days.