Solar and wind energy now account for more than 20% of U.S. electricity generation capacity

Solar and wind energy now account for more than 20% of total U.S. electricity generating capacity, according to new data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The share of renewable energy – biomass, geothermal, hydro, solar and wind – in total U.S. electricity generating capacity is now almost 30%.

In FERC’s latest monthly Energy Infrastructure Update (through May 31, 2024), which was reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign, 10,669 MW of solar and 2,095 MW of wind were added in the first five months of 2024, respectively. Combined with 212 MW of hydro and 3 MW of biomass, renewables accounted for 89.91% of the capacity added year-to-date, excluding the 1,100 MW of the Vogtle-4 nuclear reactor in Georgia. On the fossil fuel front, 348 MW of gas and 5 MW of oil were added.

Renewable sources accounted for 94.23% of all new generating capacity added in May.

Solar installations will boom in 2024. New solar capacity added from January through May was more than twice the solar capacity (4,885 MW) added year-over-year. YTD, solar accounted for 73.91% of all new generation brought into service in the first five months of 2024.

New wind capacity year-to-date was 14.51%, accounting for most of the remainder, but down slightly on the previous year (2,760 MW of wind capacity was connected during the same period in 2023).

Solar power was the largest source of new generating capacity for nine months in a row, from September 2023 to May 2024. Wind power was second for seven of those nine months.

In May alone, solar energy accounted for 78.93% of all new production capacity, followed by wind energy (8.69%).

Solar + wind = 20.55% of US generating capacity. Currently, solar and wind energy together account for more than one-fifth of the total available industrial power generation capacity in the U.S.

But a third or more of U.S. solar capacity is in the form of small-scale systems—such as rooftops—that are not reflected in FERC’s data. Including that additional solar capacity would bring the share of solar+wind closer to 25% of total U.S. capacity.

Solar energy is number 4… The recent expansion of production capacity has brought solar energy’s share of the total available installed industrial-scale generation capacity to 8.78%, further increasing its advantage over hydropower (7.83%).

Installed utility-scale solar power now ranks fourth, behind natural gas (43.38%), coal (15.79%) and wind (11.77%), in terms of share of generating capacity, recently overtaking nuclear power (8.05%).

If we include biomass (1.12%) and geothermal energy (0.32%), renewable energy sources currently account for 29.82% of the total industrial power plant capacity in the US.

…and grows. FERC reports that total “high probability” solar additions from June 2024 to May 2027 will be 89,852 MW — nearly four times the projected addition of “high probability” wind (23,449 MW), the second fastest-growing energy source.

In its three-year forecast, FERC also projects growth in the hydropower (558 MW), geothermal (400 MW) and biomass (94 MW) sectors, but does not anticipate any new nuclear capacity.

However, coal, natural gas and oil production are estimated to decline by 18,386 MW, 2,785 MW and 1,269 MW, respectively.

If FERC’s current “highly likely” additions materialize, solar will account for 14.65% of installed utility-scale generating capacity in the U.S. by June 1, 2027, putting it in second place behind natural gas. (Wind is projected to account for 12.68% and coal 13.42%).

Meanwhile, the mix of all renewable energy sources would account for 36.10% of the total available installed utility-scale generating capacity – hot on the heels of natural gas (40.30%) – with solar and wind accounting for more than three-quarters of the installed renewable energy capacity.

Within three years, renewable energy could surpass natural gas. As noted earlier, the FERC data does not include small-scale solar capacity. If that is included, total U.S. solar capacity (small + utility) would likely approach—or exceed—300 gigawatts (GW) within three years. In turn, the mix of all renewables would exceed 40% of total installed capacity, while natural gas would fall to about 37%.

What’s more, FERC says there could be as much as 211,968 MW of net new solar installations under the current three-year plan, in addition to 70,433 MW of new wind and 7,646 MW of new hydro. So the renewable share could be even larger by late spring 2027.

“Step by step, solar installed capacity is outpacing all other energy sources,” noted SUN DAY Campaign executive director Ken Bossong. “It has moved up to fourth place and should be second in a few years, with wind not far behind.”

Read more: Solar energy is expected to meet half of global electricity demand growth in 2024 and 2025

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