Solar, Wind, Gas Dominate New U.S. Generating Capacity in 2016

March 2nd, 2016

Awake Goy

Solar, Wind, Gas Dominate New U.S. Generating Capacity in 2016

March 2nd, 2016

Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand.

—

Combined new solar and wind generation (16.3GW) is double that of new gas power plants (8GW).

Via: Ars Technica:

Today, the US Energy Information Administration released data on planned additions to the US power grid this year. The year is notable because it will see the first new nuclear plant brought online in 20 years, contributing 1.1 GigaWatts to the grid. But that contribution will be dwarfed by renewable power sources, which together will account for nearly two-thirds of 2016’s new capacity. And these numbers only count utility-scale solar, ignoring commercial and residential installations.

…

Last year saw 8.4GW of distributed solar installed in the US (compared to 3.1GW of utility scale); given the continued slide in solar panel prices, that figure is likely to grow as well. Thus, the actual solar capacity installed next year may be double the EIA’s estimates. California will see the most installations, with 3.9GW of capacity, followed by North Carolina (1.1GW), Nevada (0.9GW), Texas (0.7GW), and Georgia (0.7GW).

Planned additions of wind power will be 6.8GW, largely spread across the Great Plains. This represents a slight drop from last year’s 8.1GW.

<!–