According to a review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data recently released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower) are now adding more than 2,250MW of new generating capacity each month.
According to the latest issue of FERC's" Energy Infrastructure Update" (with data through October 31, 2021), utility-scale (i.e., >1MW) renewable facilities added 18,255MW of new generating capacity during the first ten months of 2021 or an average of 1,826MW per month. Separately, in its latest "Short-Term Energy Outlook," EIA forecasts that small-scale (i.e., <1MW), distributed (e.g., rooftop) solar will grow by about 5,100MW in 2021 - or about 425MW per month. Thus, utility-scale renewables plus distributed solar are now providing - on average - over 2,250MW of new capacity each month.
Solar and wind dominated new U.S. electrical generating capacity additions during the first ten months of 2021 adding 9,604MW and 8,580MW respectively. Including new hydropower (28MW), geothermal (25MW), and biomass (18MW), renewables provided 83.6% of all new generating capacity through the end of October. New renewable capacity was more than five times greater than that of natural gas (3,549MW). There was no new nuclear capacity added in 2021 while new oil and coal capacity increased by just 19MW and 11MW respectively.
Renewables now provide more than a quarter (25.47%) of total U.S. available installed generating capacity - a share significantly greater than that of coal (18.77%) and more than three times that of nuclear power (8.32%). Wind is now more than a tenth (10.54%) of the nation's generating capacity (up from 3.80% in October 2011) while utility-scale solar has surpassed five percent (5.21%) - up from 0.15% in October 2011.
Renewables now provide more than a quarter (25.47%) of total U.S. available installed generating capacity - a share significantly greater than that of coal (18.77%) and more than three times that of nuclear power (8.32%). Wind is now more than a tenth (10.54%) of the nation's generating capacity (up from 3.80% in October 2011) while utility-scale solar has surpassed five percent (5.21%) - up from 0.15% in October 2011.