US Electrical Generation by RE Sources Grows by 14.3% in Past Year, Solar Share Over 5%

Source: Physics World

As per a report by the SUN DAY Campaign of data which was recently shared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the country’s electrical generation from renewable sources of energy in the first ten months of 2022 stood at 23%.

The concluding issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report series further shared that during the said period, renewable energy sources (inclusive of small-scale solar systems) augmented electrical output by 14.26% in Y-o-Y comparison. However, the electrical generation, together from all the sources of combined, increased by only 3.14%.

Year-to-date, renewables have made up 22.60% of the cumulative U.S. electrical generation as against 20.40% a year earlier. Basis these figures, they are set to reach or even exceed EIA’s forecast of renewables accounting for 22% of U.S. electricity in calendar year 2022.

It was a good year for solar as the solar output was up by 26.23%. As far as the cumulative US electrical generation year-to-date (YTD) is concerned, it surpassed 5.0%. Of this, October-end provided 5.05%. In March 2016, solar’s YTD share first reached 1.0%. Eversince, the monthly generation in solar has grown to nearly six-fold. The report states that the trend may continue. In the month of October, solar’s output was 31.68% greater Y-O-Y, narrating a great growth story for solar that dominated over every other energy source.

The electrical generation from wind increased by 16.86% and accounted for close to a tenth (9.80%) of the cumulative electrical generation.

When considered together from January to October of 2022, renewable energy sources easily out-paced both coal and nuclear power by 16.62% and 27.39% respectively. Despite the great numbers, natural gas is still dominating the generation with 39.40%/

“As we begin 2023, it seems very likely that renewables will provide nearly a quarter – if not more – of the nation’s electricity during the coming year,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s Executive Director Ken Bossong. “And it is entirely possible that the combination of just wind and solar will outpace nuclear power and maybe even that of coal during the next twelve months.”