Renewables overtake coal in US electricity generation

• 1 year, 7 months ago (2023-03-29)
• David Flin

North America 1021 Renewables 776 Solar 272 Wind 257

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According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), electricity generated in 2022 from renewables exceeded that from coal for the first time. Renewables also surpassed nuclear generation, after doing so for the first time in 2021.

Growth in wind and solar drove the increase in renewable energy and contributed 14 per cent of electricity produced in the USA in 2022. Hydropower contributed 6 per cent, and biomass and geothermal sources generated less than 1 per cent.

California produced 26 per cent of the national utility-scale solar electricity, followed by Texas with 16 per cent and North Carolina with 8 per cent.

Most wind-powered generation came from Texas, which accounted for 26 per cent of the US total, followed by Iowa (10 per cent) and Oklahoma (9 per cent).

Gregory Wetstone, President and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy , said: “This booming growth is driven largely by economics. Over the past decade, the levelized cost of wind energy declined by 70 per cent, while the levelized cost of solar power has declined by an even more impressive 90 per cent. Renewable energy is now the most affordable source of new electricity in much of the country.”

The EIA projected that the wind share of the US electricity mix will increase from 11 per cent to 12 per cent from 2022 to 2023 and that solar will grow from 4 per cent to 5 per cent during the period. The natural gas share is expected to remain at 39 per cent, and coal is projected to decline from 20 per cent to 17 per cent.