According to federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) estimates, more than 97% of new renewable energy additions in the United States in the first quarter of 2022 came from photovoltaic systems and wind power facilities, indicating that the deployment of renewable energy is making steady progress. In terms of electricity generation, however, the two renewables increased by more than 24 percent.
Based on the commission's further estimates of installed wind and photovoltaic systems in the United States, 78,416MW will be added over the next three years, meaning that the United States will install more than 2.2GW of photovoltaic systems and wind installations per month from now on. If a total installed capacity of nearly 180GW is planned for deployment in the US, it will more than double the current 72GW of cumulative installed capacity over the next three years. However, industry insiders have questioned whether such high deployment volumes will be possible in the U.S. renewable energy market amid pv module tariffs, price increases and supply-side disruptions.
On the other hand, in the US, renewable energy generation (including photovoltaic systems for households) rose 18.3 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier and accounted for 24.4 per cent of total electricity generation, according to survey data published by the International Energy Agency. In March alone, renewables accounted for 27.8 per cent of electricity generation.
According to the report, in the first quarter of 2022, the amount of electricity generated by PHOTOVOLTAIC systems in the United States increased by 31.8 percent and that generated by wind facilities by 22.9 percent. Renewable energy generated 16.4% more electricity than coal and 30.3% more than nuclear.
Critics have been skeptical that the new renewables will be able to keep up with growing demand, even as electricity is vacated by decommissioning coal-fired and nuclear plants. There seems to be an emerging consensus that at least the remaining plants should be retained, as gas prices rise and their use for power generation looks increasingly unwise from a sustainability point of view.
Source: saurenergy
