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Battery storage accounted for the second-largest share of new generating capacity coming online in the United States during the first half of 2024. If all planned additions come online, a record 15 GW of battery storage capacity could be added to the grid this year.
Battery storage was the second-largest contributor to utility-scale power generation capacity in the United States during the first half of 2024, at 4.2 GW.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory , power plant developers and owners added a cumulative total of 20.2 GW of utility-scale electric generating capacity in the first six months of the year, an increase of 3.6 GW (21%) compared to the same period in 2023.
Solar accounted for the largest share of new additions, totalling 12 GW (59%). In 2023, solar will also dominate new additions to the grid. Battery storage followed, accounting for 21% of new grid capacity this year.
Battery growth was concentrated in four states: California (37% of the US total), Texas (24%), Arizona (19%) and Nevada (13%). Nevada’s Gemini plant’s 380 MW of battery storage capacity and Arizona’s Eleven Mile Solar Center’s 300 MW were the two largest projects to come online in the first half of 2024.
According to the latest data, developers and owners expect to add another 42.6 GW of capacity in the second half of the year.
Wind power accounted for 12% (2.5 GW) of the added capacity in the United States. Nuclear power increased with the start-up of Unit 4 (1,114 MW) at the Vogtle plant in Georgia.
The retirement of US electric generating capacity has slowed in 2024. Operators retired 5.1 GW of generating capacity in the first half of the year, down from 9.2 GW in the first six months of 2023. In the first half of 2024, more than half (53%) of retired capacity had used natural gas as a fuel, followed by coal at 41%.
Looking ahead, developers plan to add 42.6 GW of new capacity in the United States in the second half of 2024. Nearly 60% of that planned capacity will come from solar (25 GW), followed by battery storage (10.8 GW) and wind (4.6 GW).
If utilities add all the solar capacity they are currently planning, solar capacity additions will total 37 GW in 2024, a record for any year and nearly double last years 18.8 GW.
Utilities could also add a record amount of battery storage capacity this year (15 GW) if all planned additions come online. Storage plans in Texas and California currently account for 81% of new battery storage capacity in the second half of the year.
Some 2.4 GW of capacity is scheduled to be retired during the second half of 2024, including 0.7 GW of coal and 1.1 GW of natural gas. |
