From pv magazine USA
FERC has released its “Energy Infrastructure Update” for May 2024. The report tracks the interconnection of new sources of generation to transmission grids nationwide.
In May the United States added 3,189 MW of new generating capacity. The solar industry added 78.9% of this total, bringing 2,517 MW of new solar assets online. This was followed far behind by wind (277 MW), hydropower (211 MW), and natural gas (184 MW).
Cumulatively in 2024 through May, solar led the way in capacity additions, bringing online 10,669 MW, or about 74% of the total 14,435 MW added across all technologies. Over the same period wind added 2,095 MW, nuclear 1,100 MW and natural gas 348 MW.
Looking at the total actively installed and operational assets across technologies, the United States has 1,296 GW of electric generation capacity. Natural gas is by far the energy mix leader, representing 43% of the total. This is followed in order by coal (16%), wind (12%), and solar, which now represents nearly 9% of the total energy mix. Solar has surpassed nuclear energy as an electricity source, which supplies about 8% of US electricity.
Looking ahead, FERC expects solar to continue to play a dominant role in grid additions. For high-probability additions from June 2024 through May 2027, FERC expects about 90 GW of solar, 24 GW of wind, and 14 GW of natural gas, with other technologies adding less than 1 GW. Additionally, about 17 GW of natural gas capacity and 18 GW of coal is expected to be retired over the period.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.