Renewables beat coal in power generation in the US in January 2024

Renewable energy generation has just surpassed coal owing to new solar capacity installations in the United States in 2024, as per the latest data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Energy mix as of January 2024

FERC’s latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” consists of data through January 31, 2024, which was also reviewed by the non-profit research and educational organization SUN DAY Campaign. 

According to the report, solar power contributed 2,527 megawatts (MW), or 87.3% of new generating capacity installations in January 2024. This figure signifies the second-highest monthly result in history for solar after December 2023’s record addition of 4,979 MW.

Wind energy accounted for 320 MW of new installed generating capacity this year, while natural gas hit 44 MW. Oil made up 2 MW of new generating capacity installations and “other” energy sources reached 3 MW. Refer to the table below:

Source: FERC

Solar and wind surpass coal 

The US’ new solar and wind increased the total available renewable energy generating capacity installations, including hydropower, biomass, and geothermal, to 376.33 gigawatts (GW). It accounts for 29.17% of all energy-generating capacity in the country. Impressively, renewable energy sources’ installed capacity successfully surpassed coal’s record of 207.15 GW. 

The report also noted that utility-scale solar capacity installations of 104.61 GW have now topped not only nuclear power’s 103.27 GW but also hydropower’s 101.41 GW. 

It is indeed a remarkable result, considering that this data does not even yet include the new capacity installations of small-scale, distributed solar (rooftop), which makes up for over 30% of all solar capacity.

FERC forecasts 

Looking forward, the government agency projects the utility-scale solar capacity to surpass that of wind within the next 2-3 years. 

FERC also expects net “high probability” additions of solar (ie, additions minus retirements) to a total capacity of 85,419 MW from February 2024 to January 2027.

It also forecasts up to 218,646 MW of new solar capacity installations in the three-year timeline. Moreover, it anticipates 24,443 MW of net new wind additions, 561 MW of net new hydropower, and 400 MW of net new geothermal. 

It would be unsurprising if the US actually hits these forecasts, considering that the upcoming new Vogtle-4 nuclear reactor in Georgia alone would add 1,100 MW.

In contrast, the agency expects coal capacity installation to drop by 22,240 MW. Natural gas and oil’s installed capacities are also projected to decline by 3,131 MW and 2,051 MW, respectively. Furthermore, biomass capacity is also expected to see a 68 MW decline.

The net result of the net “high probability” additions indicates that solar power generation would contribute 13.83% to the total available installed generating capacity by early 2027. Meanwhile, wind energy is expected to account for 12.79%. Overall, renewable energy would yield 35.45% of the total.

Here is the table for the generation capacity additions and retirements (February 2024 – January 2027) from Hitachi Energy Velocity Suite’s generating unit capacity dataset:

Source: FERC