The American Clean Power Association (ACP) has announced that the U.S. utility-scale solar, wind, and storage sectors collectively added 5,585 MW of new capacity in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 28% increase compared to installations during the same period the previous year.
The industry achieved significant milestones during the first quarter: utility-scale solar capacity surpassed 100 GW of installed capacity, and the first offshore wind project in federal waters commenced supplying 132 MW of clean, reliable power to the grid. Key highlights from the Q1 2024 report include:
- Utility-Scale Solar Hits Major Milestone: Operating utility-scale solar capacity exceeded 100 GW for the first time. It took 18 years to build the initial 50 GW of U.S. solar capacity, but the subsequent 50 GW were added in just four years. A substantial 4,557 MW of new solar capacity was added in Q1 2024, contributing to the U.S. surpassing 100,547 MW of installed utility-scale solar. Nearly 40% of the newly installed solar in Q1 came online in Florida.
- Historic Offshore Wind Deployment: The commissioning of the South Fork Wind project in March marked the initiation of the first large-scale offshore wind initiative in federal waters, adding 132 MW of capacity off the coast of New York.
- Significant Increase in Clean Power Procurement: Clean power procurement witnessed a robust 52% increase from Q1 2023, with 7,773 MW of new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) as utilities and corporate buyers embrace renewables to power their operations. This surge reflects growing confidence and demand for clean energy.
The clean energy future continues to brighten, with the clean power pipeline expanding to nearly 175 GW—the highest amount on record. The robust expansion of the pipeline can be attributed to battery storage and solar, which have grown at an average rate of 11% and 4% per quarter since the second quarter of 2022.
While energy storage deployments remained steady compared to the same period in the previous year, the pipeline for new storage projects increased by 61% year-over-year to 31.6 GW in the near-term pipeline, indicating strong future growth.
Despite a lackluster quarter, the land-based wind market saw its project pipeline expand, increasing 37% year-over-year to 13.7 GW. Wyoming and New Mexico are leading the charge for the technology, overtaking long-time market leader Texas.
U.S. clean power capacity now stands at 269,878 MW.
