US power generation companies installed over 500 MW of solar power and over 100 MW of biomass during October, according to a report by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
During 2013 so far the FERC says that power companies have installed over 6600 MW of natural gas capacity, 2500 MW of solar, 1500 MW of coal-fired generation, and 1000 MW of wind power. This implies a total installed capacity of 12 300 MW between January and October 2013.
Spanish multinational Abengoa SA's 280 MW Solana solar thermal plant in Arizona, and Southern Co's 139 MW Campo Verde solar plant in California were the most significant capacity additions during October.
FERC figures showed that the US’s installed generating capacity includes 42 per cent natural gas, 29 per cent coal, 9 per cent nuclear, 8 per cent hydro, 5 per cent wind, 4 per cent oil, 1 per cent biomass and less than 1 per cent solar.