SUN DAY CAMPAIGN
Renewable Energy Sources Now Provide Over 30% of U.S. Generating Capacity and Produce 25% of Its Electricity

HIGHLIGHTS

• SOLAR EXCEEDS 75% OF CAPACITY ADDITIONS IN 2024 YTD AND IS THE LARGEST SOURCE OF NEW U.S. GENERATING CAPACITY FOR THE ELEVENTH MONTH IN A ROW
• MIX OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES NOW PROVIDES OVER 30% OF U.S. UTILITY-SCALE GENERATING CAPACITY AND 25% OF ELECTRICITY PRODUCED YTD

A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data in two new reports just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reveals that the mix of renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) is now over 30% of total U.S. utility-scale electrical generating capacity.

In addition, they provided a quarter of the nation's electrical generation during the first seven months of 2024. Further, July was the eleventh month in a row in which solar was the largest source of new capacity putting it on track to become the nation's second-largest source of capacity - behind only natural gas - in less than three years.

Renewables were 90% of new generating capacity in the first seven months of 2024:

In its latest monthly "Energy Infrastructure Update" (with data through July 31, 2024), FERC says 40 "units" of solar totaling 1,291 megawatts (MW) were placed into service in July along with two units of wind (141-MW). Combined they accounted for 76.1% of all new generating capacity added during the month. Natural gas provided the balance: 450-MW. [1]

During the first seven months of 2024, solar and wind added 14,949-MW and 2,270-MW respectively. Combined with 212-MW of hydropower and 3-MW of biomass, renewables were 89.7% of capacity added. The balance consisted of the 1,100 Vogtle-4 nuclear reactor in Georgia plus 887-MW of gas, 11-MW of oil, and 3-MW of "other."

Solar was 69% of new capacity in July and 77% during the first seven months of 2024:

Solar accounted for 76.9% of all new generation placed into service in the first seven months of 2024. In July alone, solar comprised 68.6% of all new capacity added.

New wind capacity YTD accounted for most of the balance - 11.7% through July.

Solar capacity additions through the end of July were 81.2% higher than during the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, new natural gas capacity was less than one-tenth (9.6%) of that added last year. New biomass capacity was also only a tenth of that added during the first seven months of 2023 while new hydropower and wind capacity additions were 4.1% and 17.8% lower respectively. 

Solar has now been the largest source of new generating capacity for eleven months straight: September 2023 - July 2024. For seven of those eleven months, wind took second place.

Solar plus wind are now almost 21% of U.S. generating capacity:

The combined capacities of just solar and wind now constitute more than one-fifth (20.9%) of the nation's total available installed utility-scale generating capacity.

However, a third or more of U.S. solar capacity is in the form of small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that is not reflected in FERC's data. Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share provided by solar + wind closer to a quarter of the nation's total. [2]

Solar's share of U.S. generating capacity advances it to fourth place:

The latest capacity additions have brought solar's share of total available installed utility-scale (i.e., >1-MW) generating capacity up to 9.1%, 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 exceed 30% - 30.03% to be precise - of total U.S. utility-scale generating capacity.

Installed utility-scale solar has now moved into fourth place - behind natural gas (43.3%), coal (15.7%) and wind - for its share of generating capacity after earlier surpassing that of nuclear power (8.0%).

Solar will soon become the second largest source of U.S. generating capacity:

FERC reports that net "high probability" additions of solar between August 2024 and July 2027 have risen to 89,971-MW - an amount almost four times the forecast net "high probability" additions for wind (24,614-MW), the second fastest growing resource.

FERC also foresees growth for hydropower (1,328-MW), geothermal (400-MW), and biomass (127-MW). On the other hand, there is no new nuclear capacity in FERC's three-year forecast while coal, natural gas, and oil are projected to contract by 21,377-MW, 3,135-MW, and 2,114-MW respectively.

If FERC's current "high probability" additions materialize, by August 1, 2027, solar will account for more than one-seventh (15.0%) of the nation's installed utility-scale generating capacity. That would be greater than either coal (13.2%) or wind (12.8%) and substantially more than either nuclear power (7.5%) or hydropower (7.3%). 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 36.5% of total available installed utility-scale generating capacity - rapidly approaching that of natural gas - with solar and wind constituting more than three-quarters (76.1%) of the installed utility-scale renewable energy capacity.

The combined capacities of all renewables, including small-scale solar, seem likely to exceed natural gas within three years:

As noted, FERC's data do not account for the capacity of small-scale solar systems. If that is factored in, within three years, total U.S. solar capacity (i.e., small-scale plus utility-scale) is likely to approach - and very possibly surpass - 300-GW. In turn, the mix of all renewables would then exceed 40% of total installed capacity while natural gas' share would drop to about 37%.

Moreover, FERC reports that there may actually be as much as 210,604-MW of net new solar additions in the current three-year pipeline in addition to 69,810-MW of new wind, 8,991-MW of new hydropower, 509-MW of new geothermal, and 198-MW of new biomass. Thus, renewables' share could be even greater by mid-summer 2027.

Solar continues to be the fastest growing source of U.S. electrical generation:

In its latest monthly "Electric Power Monthly" report (with data through July 31, 2024), EIA says the combination of utility-scale and "estimated" small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar increased by 25.7% in the first seven months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 29.7% while small-scale solar PV increased by 16.8% thereby making solar - once again - the fastest growing source of U.S. electrical generation. Together, solar was 7.0% of total U.S. electrical generation for the period and 7.4% in July alone.

Small-scale solar (i.e., systems <1-MW) accounted for almost 30% of all solar generation and provided 2% of U.S. electricity supply in the first seven months of this year.

Renewable sources provided 25% of U.S. electrical generation in first seven months of 2024:

The combination of wind and solar provided 17.8% of the nation's electrical generation during the first seven months of 2024.

Between January and July, electrical generation by the mix of all renewables (i.e., solar and wind, plus hydropower, biomass and geothermal) grew by 9.1% compared to the same period a year earlier and provided 24.9% of total production. By comparison, renewables accounted for 23.9% of electrical output in the first seven months of 2023.

"Renewable energy sources, led by solar, continue to expand their share of U.S. generating capacity and electrical production," noted the SUN DAY Campaign's executive director Ken Bossong. "However, future growth may depend heavily on the results of the November elections." 

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Sources:  

FERC's 8-page "Energy Infrastructure Update for July 2024" was released on September 24, 2024, and can be found at: https://cms.ferc.gov/media/energy-infrastructure-update-july-2024.

For the information cited in this update, see the tables entitled "New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion)," "Total Available Installed Generating Capacity," and "Generation Capacity Additions and Retirements."

EIA released its latest "Electric Power Monthly" report on September 24, 2024. The full report can be found at: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly

For the data cited in this release, see Table ES1.B ("Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, Year-to-Date 2024 and 2023") as well as Table ES1.A ("Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, 2024 and 2023")

Notes:   

[1] Generating capacity is not the same as actual generation. Fossil fuels and nuclear power generally have higher "capacity factors" than do wind and solar. For example, EIA reports capacity factors in calendar year 2023 for nuclear power and natural gas were 93.1% and 58.8% respectively while those for wind and utility-scale solar were 33.5% and 23.3%. See Tables 6.07.A and 6.07.B in any of EIA's recent "Electric Power Monthly" reports.

[2] In a September 12, 2023 news release, EIA states: "More than one-third of U.S. solar power capacity is small-scale solar. We expect small-scale solar capacity will grow from 44-GW in June 2023 to 55-GW by the end of 2024." See: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/report/BTL/2023/09-smallscalesolar/article.php

The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1992 to support a rapid transition to 100% reliance on sustainable energy technologies as a cost-effective alternative to nuclear power and fossil fuels and as a solution to climate change. Follow on Twitter (or "X"): @SunDayCampaign