Photo voltaic and battery storage to make up 81% of recent U.S. electric-generating capability in 2024
In-brief evaluation
February 15, 2024
Builders and energy plant house owners plan so as to add 62.8 gigawatts (GW) of recent utility-scale electric-generating capability in 2024, in response to our newest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory. This addition could be 55% extra added capability than the 40.4 GW added in 2023 (essentially the most since 2003) and factors to a continued rise in business exercise. We count on photo voltaic to account for the biggest share of recent capability in 2024, at 58%, adopted by battery storage, at 23%.
Photo voltaic. We count on a report addition of utility-scale photo voltaic in 2024 if the scheduled 36.4 GW are added to the grid. This development would nearly double final 12 months’s 18.4 GW improve, which was itself a report for annual utility-scale photo voltaic set up in america. As the consequences of provide chain challenges and commerce restrictions ease, photo voltaic continues to outpace capability additions from different producing assets.
Greater than half of the brand new utility-scale photo voltaic capability is deliberate for 3 states: Texas (35%), California (10%), and Florida (6%). Exterior of those states, the Gemini photo voltaic facility in Nevada plans to start working in 2024. With a deliberate photovoltaic capability of 690 megawatts (MW) and battery storage of 380 MW, it’s expected to be the largest solar project in america when absolutely operational.
Battery storage. We additionally count on battery storage to set a report for annual capability additions in 2024. We count on U.S. battery storage capacity to nearly double in 2024 as builders report plans so as to add 14.3 GW of battery storage to the present 15.5 GW this 12 months. In 2023, 6.4 GW of recent battery storage capability was added to the U.S. grid, a 70% annual improve.
Texas, with an anticipated 6.4 GW, and California, with an anticipated 5.2 GW, will account for 82% of the brand new U.S. battery storage capability. Builders have scheduled the Menifee Energy Financial institution (460.0 MW) on the web site of the previous Inland Empire Power Heart pure gas-fired energy plant in Riverside, California, to return on line in 2024. With the rise of photo voltaic and wind capability in america, the demand for battery storage continues to extend. The Inflation Discount Act (IRA) has additionally accelerated the event of power storage by introducing funding tax credit (ITCs) for stand-alone storage. Previous to the IRA, batteries certified for federal tax credit provided that they had been co-located with photo voltaic.
Wind. Operators report one other 8.2 GW of wind capability is scheduled to return on line in 2024. Following the report additions of greater than 14.0 GW in each 2020 and 2021, wind capability additions have slowed within the final two years.
Two giant offshore wind crops scheduled to return on line this 12 months are the 800-MW Winery Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts and the 130-MW South Fork Wind off the coast of New York. South Fork Wind, which builders anticipated to start industrial operation final 12 months, is now scheduled to return on line in March 2024.
Pure fuel. For 2024, builders report 2.5 GW in deliberate pure fuel capability additions, the least new pure fuel capability in 25 years. Notably, in 2024, 79% of the pure fuel capability added is to return from simple-cycle, pure fuel turbine (SCGT) crops. This 12 months would be the first time since 2001 that combined-cycle capability was not the predominant pure gas-fired know-how. SCGT power plants provide effective grid support as a result of they will begin up, ramp up, and ramp down comparatively rapidly.
Nuclear. Begin-up of the fourth reactor (1.1 GW) at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear energy plant, initially scheduled for final 12 months, has moved to March 2024. Vogtle Unit 3 started industrial operation on the finish of July final 12 months.
Principal contributor: Suparna Ray
Information visualization: Suparna Ray, Kristen Tsai