96% of new US power additions in 2024 to be low-carbon
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has an update on US power grid additions in the first half of 2024, and plans for the second half of the year. So far this year we've added 12 gigawatts (GW) of new solar power capacity, 4.2 GW of battery storage, 2.5 GW of wind, 1.1 GW of nuclear (from Vogtle in Georgia), and about 0.3 GW of gas. That's almost 99% low-carbon energy.
We also retired 2.7 GW of gas and 2.1 GW of coal, so on net we have 4.5 GW less of fossil fuel power capacity than we did at the end of 2023. However, fossil fuel retirements have slowed down because it's difficult for utilities to keep up with rising power demands. EIA also reports:
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 is 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 in any one year and almost double last year’s 18.8 GW.
Utilities could also add a record amount of battery storage capacity this year (15 GW) if all planned additions come online. Plans for storage capacity in Texas and California currently account for 81% of new battery storage capacity in the second half of the year.
About 2.4 GW of capacity is scheduled to retire during the second half of 2024, including 0.7 GW of coal and 1.1 GW of natural gas.
Overall there's 2.6 GW of new gas planned, so 96% of all new power capacity additions in 2024 would be from low-carbon sources, including 83% from solar + battery storage. Texas, Florida, California, and Nevada are leading on solar additions while California, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada are accounting for most of the new battery storage.
And although we'll add 2.6 GW of gas, we'll retire 3.8 GW, plus retiring 2.8 GW of coal with no additions, so the grid will become significantly cleaner. However, we'll probably have to use the existing gas power plants more often due to rising demand, and so power sector emissions are expected to remain flat over the next year or two.
That's a reminder of the importance of permitting reform, because if we can build power infrastructure faster, low-carbon energy sources will be the big winners and it will allow us to retire more of these fossil fuel power plants faster. Which would be a big win not just for the climate, but also for the frontline communities living near those existing fossil fuel power plants today, breathing their air pollution.
Thank you @Dana Nuccitelli! This is a great update. Can you remind me what % of total US energy needs we might be able to meet with distributed solar in the future? Also, I seem to recall that California has targeted a specific % from distributed solar. Where can I find that information?
Distributed solar specifically, @Michelle Hamilton? There's no specific amount, but it's constrained by available rooftop and parking lot space. I think the Princeton Net Zero study estimated that it could meet perhaps somewhere in the ballpark of 10% of our total power demand in 2050. California doesn't have a specific distributed solar target; in fact, by changing net metering policies the state has effectively discouraged rooftop solar from expanding too much.
But you did remind me that the above numbers only include utility-scale power, so when we also include distributed solar the numbers are even a bit better.
Search Forums
Forum help
Select a question below
CCL Community Guidelines
- Discuss, ask and share
- Be respectful
- Respect confidentiality
- Protect privacy
CCL Blog Policy Area Categories
- Price on Carbon
- CBAM
- Clean Energy Permitting Reform
- Healthy Forests
- Building Electrification and Efficiency