EIA expects USA to show strong growth in renewable electricity generation at expense of coal

• 4 years ago (2020-05-14)
• David Flin

Coal 296 North America 1021 Renewables 776

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Despite a projected decline in total US electricity generation cause by the Covid-19 pandemic, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that renewable energy sources will produce significantly more electricity in 2020.

The latest issue of EIA’s “Short-Term Energy Outlook” said that renewable energy will account for the largest proportion of new generating capacity in 2020, with an 11 per cent growth in renewable power generation. The EIA said that it predicts that the electric power sector will add 20.4GW of new wind capacity and 12.7GW of utility-scale new solar capacity in 2020, making renewable energy the fastest growing source of electricity generation in 2020.

The EIA also predicts that total US power generation will decline by 5 per cent in 2020, with most of the expected decline coming from coal-fired plants. EIA expects coal-fired generation to decline by 25 per cent in 2020.

The EIA did caution that “these forecasts are subject to a high degree of uncertainty and the effects of the economic slowdown related to Covid-19 are likely to affect new generating capacity builds during the next few months.”