Wind, solar farms produce 10% of US power in 4-mo

June 27 (Renewables Now) - A bit over 10% of all power produced in the US came from solar, both utility-scale solar parks and small systems, and wind farms in the first four months of 2018.

According to statistics released this week by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), small solar photovoltaic (PV) systems generated 8,565 GWh in the period, up by 25.5% year-on-year. Utility-scale solar farms, both PV and thermal, produced 18,510 GWh and wind farms churned out 104,801 GWh.

Details on the output of the main power sources in the country are available in the table, which is based on EIA data.

Fuel type Jan-Apr 2018

output (in GWh) Y/Y change Natural gas 409,806 +16% Coal power 354,926 -4.9% Nuclear energy 265,559 +2.7% Non-hydro renewables 149,652 +10.8% - of which wind 104,801 +10.5% - of which utility-scale solar 18,510 +33.6% Conventional hydro 104,518 -6.6% ALL ENERGY SOURCES 1,301,817 +4.5%

Combined, the output of renewables and hydropower plants (HPPs) is very close to that of nuclear power plants (NPPs), thus renewables and nuclear power were each responsible for roughly 20% of US power generation in the four months.