New Energy Almost All 2022 Energy Sector Growth

Latest FERC & EIA Data Show Renewable Energy Sources Provided 97.4% Of New U.S. Generating Capacity And 24.4% Of Electrical Production In First Quarter Of 2022

Ken Bossong, May 31, 2022 (The SUN DAY Campaign)

“…[R]enewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) provided 97.4% of new domestic electrical generating capacity and 24.4% of actual generation during the first three months of 2022…[Utility-scale >1-MW] solar and wind facilities added 1,639 megawatts (MW) and 4,114-MW…Hydropower provided an additional 5-MW. Natural gas contributed the remaining 154-MW of the 5,912-MW in new capacity reported for the first quarter of 2022…In March alone, wind (1,418-MW) and solar (240-MW) accounted for 100% of the new capacity brought on-line…

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Renewables now provide more than a quarter (26.4%) of total U.S. available installed generating capacity - a share significantly greater than that of coal (18.2%) and more than three times that of nuclear power (8.2%). Only natural gas (43.9%) provides a greater share of capacity…In addition, actual electrical generation by renewable energy sources set new records for both the first quarter and just the month of March…[I]n the first three months of 2022, renewable energy sources (including small-scale solar systems) increased their electrical output by 18.3% compared to the same period a year earlier and provided 24.4% of total U.S. electrical generation…

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For the quarter, electrical generation by solar sources grew by 31.8% while wind increased by 22.9%. Renewables comfortably out-produced both coal and nuclear power by 16.4% and 30.3% respectively…“High probability” generation capacity additions for utility-scale solar and wind combined, minus anticipated retirements, reflect a projected net increase of 78,416-MW over the next three years, or almost 2,200-MW per month. That figure does not include new distributed, small-scale solar capacity or additions by hydropower, geothermal, and biomass. By comparison, net growth for natural gas will be only 10,778-MW. Thus, solar and wind together are forecast to provide more than seven times as much new net generating capacity as natural gas by March 2025..." click here for more

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