Wind, solar, batteries make up 82% of 2023 utility-scale US pipeline

wind and solar

WASHINGTON -

Wind, solar, and batteries make up 82% of 2023’s expected new utility-scale power capacity in the US, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) “Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory.”

As of January 2023, the US was operating 73.5 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar capacity – about 6% of the country’s total.

But solar makes up just over half of new US generating capacity expected to come online in 2023. And if it all goes as expected, it will be the most solar capacity added in a single year in the US. It will also be the first year that more than half of US capacity additions are solar.

As of January 2023, 141.3 GW of wind capacity was operating in the US – about 12% of the US total. Another 7.1 GW are planned for 2023. Tax incentives, lower wind turbine construction costs, and new renewable energy targets are spurring the growth. 

And developers also plan to add 8.6 GW of battery storage power capacity to the grid this year, and that’s going to double total US battery power capacity.

However, differences in the amount of electricity that different types of power plants can produce mean that wind and solar made up about 17% of the US’s utility-scale capacity in 2021, but produced 12% of electricity. Solutions such as energy storage, smart grids, and infrastructure development will help bridge that gap.

Related News

joe biden

Biden's Climate Bet Rests on Enacting a Clean Electricity Standard

WASHINGTON - The true measure of President Biden’s climate ambition may be the clean electricity standard he tucked into his massive $2.2 trillion infrastructure spending plan.

Its goal is striking: 80% clean power in the United States by 2030.

The details, however, are vague. And so is Biden’s plan B if it fails—an uncertainty that’s worrisome to both activists and academics. The lack of a clear backup plan underscores the importance of passing a clean electricity standard, they say.

If the clean electricity standard doesn’t survive Congress, it will put pressure on the need to drive climate policy through targeted spending, said John…

READ MORE
ev charging

The Single Biggest Threat To The Electric Vehicle Boom

READ MORE

alberta Renewable Energy

Requests for Proposal launched for purchase of clean electricity in Alberta

READ MORE

Record numbers of solar panels were shipped in the United States during 2021

READ MORE

ev battery

Electric vehicles: recycled batteries and the search for a circular economy

READ MORE