Solar Power and Battery Storage Lead New Utility-Scale Electricity in U.S. for First Half of 2024

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, the country has installed 20.2 gigawatts utility-scale electric generating capacity from January through June 2024. Of the newly installed generating capacity, solar and battery storage have taken the lead.

The report determined that new solar utility-scale operations made up the largest amount of electric generating capacity added in the U.S. for the first half of the year, equating to 12 gigawatts or 59% of total new electric generating capacity.

The bulk of new solar came from Texas and Florida, which alone contributed 38% of new solar utility-scale electric generating capacity. In Texas, this is in part thanks to one of the largest new solar projects for 2024, the Lumina Solar Facility. According to the developer, Intersect Power, this project generates 828 megawatt-peak (MWp), or enough energy to power about 243,000 houses per year.

The other largest solar project installed this year is the Gemini power plant based in Nevada. This power plant includes 690 MWac solar and 380 megawatts of battery storage capacity, enough to meet about 10% of peak energy demand for the state.

Following new utility-scale solar projects that went online for the first half of the year, battery storage took the No. 2 spot for most capacity additions, making up 21% of the total, EIA reported. Most of the new battery projects for the first half of 2024 were added in California, followed by Texas, Arizona and Nevada. The Nevada-based Gemini project had the highest battery capacity addition in the U.S. for the first half of 2024. The second-largest battery storage project was the Eleven Mile Solar Center, which is based in Arizona and includes 300 megawatts of battery storage and 300 megawatts of solar.

Wind energy and nuclear were also major contributors to new utility-scale electric generating capacity added in the first six months of 2024. Wind energy additions included 2.5 gigawatts, of 12% of the total new generating capacity additions, and nuclear energy was boosted by the 1,114-megawatt Vogtle plant based in Georgia.

Development is nowhere near finished for the year, though. As EIA reported, another 42.6 gigawatts of capacity are slated for the last six months of the year, including 25 gigawatts of solar, 10.8 gigawatts of battery storage and 4.6 gigawatts of wind. This year could reach the highest annual record of new solar capacity, and battery storage capacity could also reach a record high of 15 gigawatts.

While utility-scale electric generating capacity from renewables is increasing, EIA’s new report also noted that retirements are slowing down, with 5.1 gigawatts of capacity retired in the first half of 2024. Most of the retirements were for natural gas, followed by coal. An additional 2.4 gigawatts of generating capacity are expected to be retired before the end of the year.

In December 2023, the U.S. joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance, agreeing to phase out coal, likely by 2035 based on other agreements, The Associated Press reported.

Further, in the first seven months of this year, wind and solar outpaced coal in net electricity generation in the U.S. for the first time.