Credit score: Primoris Renewable Vitality
A evaluate by the SUN DAY Marketing campaign of data just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) reveals that the mix of photo voltaic and wind accounted for greater than 98% of recent U.S. electrical producing capability added in January. Photo voltaic alone accounted for over two-thirds of the brand new capability. Furthermore, January was the seventeenth month in a row by which photo voltaic was the most important supply of recent capability.
Renewables have been 98.4% of recent producing capability in January:
In its newest month-to-month “Vitality Infrastructure Replace” report (with information by means of January 31, 2025), FERC says 63 “items” of photo voltaic totaling 2,945 MW have been positioned into service in January together with 5 items of wind (1,301 MW). Mixed, they accounted for 98.4% of all new producing capability added through the month. The stability was offered by pure fuel (60 MW) and oil (11 MW).
Photo voltaic was greater than two-thirds of recent capability added in January:
Photo voltaic accounted for 68.2% of all new producing capability positioned into service in January — greater than double the photo voltaic capability added a 12 months earlier (1,176 MW).
Contributing to photo voltaic’s latest additions have been twelve tasks — every 74.5-MW — sponsored by Florida Energy & Gentle in addition to the 435-MW Dunns Bridge Photo voltaic Challenge in Indiana. Different main additions have been the 245.8-MW Porter, the 240.6-MW 7V and 195.4-MW Angelo photo voltaic tasks — all in Texas, in addition to the 190-MW Atlanta Farms photo voltaic mission in Ohio.
Photo voltaic has now been the most important supply of recent producing capability added every month for seventeen consecutive months: September 2023-January 2025.
Photo voltaic plus wind is now nearly 1 / 4 of U.S. utility-scale producing capability; all renewables mixed are practically a 3rd:
New wind accounted for a lot of the stability (30.1%) of capability additions. The truth is, extra new wind capability was added in January 2025 than was reported as being added throughout any month in 2024.
A lot of the brand new wind capability is attributable to the 390.4-MW Cedar Springs Wind IV and 330.0-MW Boswell Wind Farm tasks, each in Wyoming, in addition to the 300.0-MW Prosperity Wind Farm in Illinois and the 201.0-MW Golden Hills Wind Farm Enlargement in Oregon.
The put in capacities of photo voltaic (10.5%) and wind (11.8%) are actually every greater than a tenth of the nation’s complete. Taken collectively, they represent nearly one-fourth (22.3%) of the U.S.’s complete out there put in utility-scale producing capability.
Furthermore, roughly 30% of U.S. photo voltaic capability is within the type of small-scale (e.g., rooftop) systems that is not reflected in FERC’s data. Together with that extra photo voltaic capability would convey the share offered by photo voltaic + wind to greater than 1 / 4 of the nation’s complete.
With the inclusion of hydropower (7.6%), biomass (1.1%) and geothermal (0.3%), renewables at present declare a 31.3% share of complete U.S. utility-scale producing capability. If small-scale photo voltaic capability is included, renewables are actually about one-third of complete U.S. producing capability.
Photo voltaic will quickly be the second-largest supply of U.S. producing capability:
FERC experiences that web “excessive likelihood” additions of photo voltaic between February 2025 and January 2028 complete 89,033 MW — an quantity nearly 4 instances the forecast web “excessive likelihood” additions for wind (22,312 MW), the second quickest rising useful resource. FERC additionally foresees web development for hydropower (1,319 MW) and geothermal (92 MW) however a lower of 130 MW in biomass capability.
Taken collectively, the web new “excessive likelihood” capability additions by all renewable power sources would complete 112,626 MW with photo voltaic comprising over 79% and wind offering one other 20%.
Alternatively, there isn’t any new nuclear capability in FERC’s three-year forecast whereas coal and oil are projected to contract by 24,940 MW and a couple of,237 MW respectively. Pure fuel capability would broaden by solely 455 MW.
If FERC’s present “excessive likelihood” additions materialize, by February 1, 2028, photo voltaic will account for practically one-sixth (16.2%) of the nation’s put in utility-scale producing capability. Wind would offer a further one-eighth (12.6%) of the entire. Thus, every can be greater than coal (12.4%) and considerably greater than both nuclear energy or hydropower (each 7.3%).
The truth is, assuming present development charges proceed, the put in capability of utility-scale photo voltaic is more likely to surpass coal and wind throughout the subsequent two years, putting photo voltaic in second place for put in producing capability — behind solely pure fuel.
In the meantime, the combination of all renewables is now including about two proportion factors every year to its share of producing capability. Thus, by February 1, 2028, renewables would account for 37.4% of complete out there put in utility-scale producing capability — quickly approaching that of pure fuel (40.2%) — with photo voltaic and wind constituting greater than three-quarters of the put in renewable power capability.
The mixed capacities of all renewables, together with small-scale photo voltaic, are on observe to exceed pure fuel inside three years:
As famous, FERC’s information don’t account for the capability of small-scale photo voltaic programs. If that’s factored in, inside three years, complete U.S. photo voltaic capability (i.e., small-scale plus utility-scale) may surpass 325 GW. In flip, the combination of all renewables would then exceed 40% of complete put in capability whereas pure fuel’ share would drop to about 37%.
Furthermore, FERC experiences that there may very well be as a lot as 220,767 MW of web new photo voltaic additions within the present three-year pipeline along with 68,409 MW of recent wind, 9,833 MW of recent hydropower, 201 MW of recent geothermal, and 39 MW of recent biomass. In contrast, web new pure fuel capability doubtlessly within the three-year pipeline totals simply 18,363 MW. Thus, renewables’ share may very well be even higher by early 2028.
“The Biden period closed out with record-setting photo voltaic additions and a rebound in new wind capability,” stated the SUN DAY Marketing campaign’s govt director Ken Bossong. “Whether or not photo voltaic, wind, and different renewables can proceed that development below the insurance policies of the Trump Administration stays to be seen.”
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