U.S. Electric Utility-Scale Capacity Additions, by Fuel Type

Since 2010, annual electricity capacity additions in the U.S. have dramatically shifted from fossil fuels to renewables (RE). Solar and wind, for example, have expanded from just a quarter of capacity additions in 2010 to 89.8% in 2024. Last year, solar alone made up 81% of all additions in the U.S. with 30.8 GW installed, up from just 1.4% in 2010. These RE installations are impacting the generation mix on the nation’s grid. Nearly one quarter (24.2%) of the nation’s electricity generation in 2024 came from RE sources including biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar (utility-scale and distributed), and wind, up from 10.4% in 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA projects that solar capacity will grow by another 32.5 GW in 2025. And while not tracked in our chart above, a record-breaking 18.2 GW of utility-scale battery storage installations are projected this year, up from 10.3 GW in 2024 and just 0.4 GW five years ago. RE combined with storage is proving to be a game changer in balancing the grid in places like California and Texas, especially during heat waves and cold plunges.

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