New Energy Dominated Early 2021

Back-To-Back FERC And EIA Reports Show Strong Start For Solar And Wind In 2021: Solar Electrical Production Grows 21.7% While Wind's Output Increases 6.6%; Solar And Wind Are The Only Sources Of New Generating Capacity In January

Ken Bossong, March 25, 2021 (SUN DAY Campaign)

“…[New data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed] solar and wind have made a strong start in 2021…[U]tility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) plants produced 23.1% more electricity in January 2021 than they did a year earlier while estimated small-scale solar (e.g., rooftop PV systems) increased by 18.8%...[Combined, solar grew 21.7% and provided 2.4% of the nation's electrical output…[Wind increased] by 6.6% in January 2021, compared to the first month of 2020, and provided 8.6% of U.S. electrical output. Together, wind and solar increased by 9.5% and accounted for a bit more than 11.0% of net generation in January…Along with other "green" energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower), renewables grew by 6.3% and accounted for more than a fifth (20.2%) of U.S. electrical production in January 2021compared to 19.6% the year before…

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…[S]olar and wind provided all of the new electrical generating capacity added in the first month of this year. Twenty-seven "units" of utility-scale solar provided 724-MW while two units of wind added 554-MW…Renewable energy sources collectively now account for 24.30% of the nation’s total available installed generating capacity…[leading] coal (19.43%) and nuclear power (8.50%)…[W]ind and solar combined account for 14.46%…[R]enewables now appear to be on track to reach - and likely exceed - 30% of the nation's total generating capacity by 2025…[and] the generating capacities of coal and oil are projected to plummet…” click here for more

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