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The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects nearly 63 GW of increased utility-scale electric capacity, the majority of which is solar and batteries.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its Preliminary Monthly Inventory of Electric Generators, publishing projections of high probability electric generation capacity additions for 2024.
The EIA expects about 63 GW of new capacity this year, adding significantly more than the 40 GW added in 2023. Last year saw the biggest boom in grid capacity additions since 2023, and 2024 is expected to surpass it by you grow
Additionally, solar and batteries dominate the project queues. Solar represents 58% of the added capacity expected by 2024, with batteries coming in second at 23%. This represents a record 36.4 GW of solar energy and 14.3 GW of battery energy storage. These figures only include utility-scale projects, which means solar has an even bigger piece of the pie if you include distributed solar, such as behind-the-meter residential and commercial projects.
The EIAs forecast of 36.4 GW of utility-scale solar nearly doubles last years 18.4 GW increase, which was already a new deployment record.
Texas is expected to be the clear leader, with 35% of the countrys commercial-scale solar energy by 2024. California (10%) and Florida (6%) follow.
Meanwhile, the cumulative total of battery energy storage is expected to nearly double this year. In its entire history, the US has installed about 15.5 GW of grid-scale batteries. The EIA expects that 14.3 GW more storage will be installed and operational by 2024.
The two leading technologies are followed by wind (13%), natural gas (4%) and nuclear (2%). There are zero coal plants planned in 2024, and more decommissioning projects are underway. |
