Renewable resources will power over two-thirds of the new electric generating capacity that will be added to the U.S. grid in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
EIA tracks planned and operating utility-scale electric power generation in the U.S. The agency reports that developers and power plant owners plan for about 39.7 gigawatts of new utility-scale generation to start commercial operation in 2021.
Solar is planned to account for 15.4 gigawatts of generating capacity additions. Solar represents the largest share of planned capacity additions for 2021, at 39 percent. This would exceed 2020's addition of about gigawatts of solar, to set a new record for U.S. solar capacity additions. According to EIA, over one-quarter of this new solar photovoltaic capacity will be installed in Texas. EIA separately forecasts an additional 4.1 gigawatts of small-scale solar PV capacity to come online this year. Federal tax incentives, state solar policies, and declining cost curves for solar systems contribute to this growth.
Wind is planned to account for 12.2 gigawatts of added capacity in 2021, or about 31 percent of the additions. EIA notes that this represents a reduction relative to the roughly 21 gigawatts of wind capacity that came online in 2020.
According to EIA, about 6.6 gigawatts of new natural gas-fired capacity is planned for 2021, a mix of combined-cycle and combustion-turbine generators. EIA notes that over 70% of planned natural gas additions will be sited in just 3 states: Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
A single nuclear power reactor -- at the Vogtle plant in Georgia -- is slated to come online in 2021, contributing 1.1 gigawatts of new capacity.
EIA also tracks battery plans, projecting that 4.3 gigawatts of battery power capacity additions will come online in 2021. This would more than quadruple the cumulative level of battery capacity installed to date.
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