US adds 3 GW of large wind, solar capacity in 4-mo 2019

June 10 (Renewables Now) - The US added over 3 GW of utility-scale wind and solar power generation capacity in the first four months of 2019, when 3.47 GW of natural gas-fired power plants also went into service.

Wind capacity additions over the period arrived at 1,545 MW, slightly down from 1,792 MW a year ago. One of the new parks is the 162.9-MW Midway Wind Project in Texas, whose power is being sold to Citigroup Inc.

The combined capacity of newly commissioned solar parks in the first four months was 1,473 MW, down from 1,815 MW in January-April 2018.

The new generation in-service for the four months totalled 6,537 MW. The table below contains details on the current cumulative capacity of the US’ main energy sources, and the expected retirements and capacity addition by May 2022.

Capacity in MW Total capacity in April 2019 High probability additions by May 2022 Retirements by May 2022 Natural gas 531,080 28,701 10,171 Coal 257,480 867 13,276 Nuclear 106,990 3,280 8,386 Water 100,440 957 526 Wind 98,620 25,356 239 Oil 39,770 44 1,083 Solar 38,540 14,847 1

The full FERC report is available at https://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/2019/apr-energy-infrastructure.pdf.