US added 4.2 GW of solar in H1

From pv magazine USA

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) has revealed that the United States added 15 GW of generating capacity in the first six months of 2022. The top three technologies were wind (5.2 GW), natural gas (4.3 GW), and solar (4.2 GW), followed by battery energy storage.

By the end of this year, solar will account for the largest share of new capacity additions at 17.8 GW, followed by wind at 11.2 GW, natural gas at 9.2 GW, and battery energy storage at 6.2 GW. This means developers may be busy in the second half of this year, adding 29 GW to the grid nationwide.

More than 40% of the wind capacity that has been activated this year is in Texas, where 2.2 GW of wind was brought online. The largest projects installed and activated this year include the 999 MW Traverse Wind Project in Oklahoma, the 492 MW Maverick Creek Wind in Texas, and the 440 MW solar and battery storage project at Slate Hybrid in California.

The EIA also tracks operable projects larger than 1 MW in size. Nationwide, there are 497 active natural gas plants, 202 coal plants, 138 wind facilities, 95 nuclear plants, 80 conventional hydroelectric dams, and 66 utility-scale solar facilities. New renewable energy projects coming online and retirements in coal fired plants, as well as natural gas and nuclear, are expected to shift these numbers.

A significant amount of capacity, 15.1 GW, is expected to be retired this year. About 8.8 GW of capacity has already been taken offline in 2022. Coal plants, due to their heavy carbon emissions, have represented the largest portion of retirements, and will account for about 76% of all retirements for the year. This is followed by natural gas (12%) and nuclear (9%). A 1.3 GW coal plant was retired in Ohio in May, and a 1.2 GW station in Maryland was retired in June. Additionally, a 769 MW nuclear plant was retired in Michigan in June.