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Solar and battery storage to make up 81% of new power capacity in US
28/2/2024
News
US developers and power plant owners are to add 62.8 GW of new utility-scale power generation capacity in 2024, according to latest figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
This addition would be 55% greater added capacity than the 40.4 GW added in 2023 (the most since 2003) and points to a continued rise in industry activity. Solar is expected to account for the largest share of new capacity in 2024, at 58%, followed by battery storage, at 23%.
A record addition of utility-scale solar is expected in 2024 if the scheduled 36.4 GW are connected to the grid. This growth would almost double last year’s 18.4 GW increase, which was itself a record for annual utility-scale solar installation in the US. As the effects of supply chain challenges and trade restrictions ease, solar continues to outpace capacity additions from other generating resources.
More than half of the new utility-scale solar capacity is planned for three states: Texas (35%), California (10%), and Florida (6%). Outside these states, the Gemini solar facility in Nevada plans to begin operating in 2024. With a planned photovoltaic (PV) capacity of 690 MW and battery storage of 380 MW, it is expected to be the largest solar project in the US when fully operational.
Battery storage is also expected to set a record for annual capacity additions in 2024. US battery storage capacity will nearly double in 2024 as developers report plans to add 14.3 GW of battery storage to the existing 15.5 GW this year. In 2023, 6.4 GW of new battery storage capacity was added to the US grid, a 70% annual increase.
Texas, with an expected 6.4 GW, and California, with potentially 5.2 GW, will account for 82% of the new US battery storage capacity. Developers have scheduled the Menifee Power Bank (460 MW) in Riverside, California, to come online in 2024.
With the rise of solar and wind capacity in the US, the demand for battery storage continues to increase. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has also accelerated the development of energy storage by introducing investment tax credits (ITCs) for stand-alone storage. Prior to the IRA, batteries qualified for federal tax credits only if they were co-located with solar.
Meanwhile, operators report another 8.2 GW of wind capacity is scheduled to come online in 2024. However, following the record additions of more than 14 GW in both 2020 and 2021, wind capacity additions have slowed in the last two years.
Two large offshore wind plants are scheduled to come online this year: the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 project off the coast of Massachusetts and the 130 MW South Fork Wind development off the coast of New York.
Developers report 2.5 GW in planned natural gas capacity additions in 2024, the lowest new natural gas capacity in 25 years. Finally, start-up of the fourth reactor (1.1 GW) at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear power plant, originally scheduled for last year, has moved to March 2024. Vogtle Unit 3 began commercial operation at the end of July last year.
