US wind power generation on course to surpass coal

• 4 months ago (2023-12-06)
• David Flin

Coal 275 North America 998 Wind 239

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US electricity generation from wind power is on course to surpass coal-fired electricity generation, potentially by 2026, as wind supply growth expands at a record pace just as coal-fired generation is cut across the country.

According to the think tank Ember , coal-fired power remains the second largest source of US electricity behind natural gas, and over the first 10 months of 2023, coal-fired output was roughly 60 per cent greater than total generation from wind sources. However, wind power generation is rapidly rising in most regions and utilities are steadily cutting coal capacity, and wind output is on track to overtake coal output within the US electricity generation mix.

Since 2015, US utilities have cut coal-fired capacity by 30 per cent and boosted wind capacity by over 90 per cent.