Through September, Production by the Mix of All Renewable Energy Sources Grew by 8.6% and Provided 24.0% of U.S. Electrical Generation

A review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data recently released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirms that during the first three-quarters of 2024, solar remained the nation’s fastest growing source of electricity as the mix of all renewables increased their output by nearly 9%.

Key Year-to-Date (YTD) Trends for Solar:

In its latest monthly “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through September 30, 2024), EIA says the combination of utility-scale and “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar increased by 25.9% in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

Utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 30.1% while small-scale solar PV increased by 16.2%. Together, solar was over 7.0% (7.13%) of total U.S. electrical generation for the period.

In September alone, electrical generation by utility-scale solar expanded by 29.0% compared to September 2023 while small-scale solar grew by 14.2%; combined solar grew by 24.6% and accounted for more than 7.5% of total U.S. electrical output.

Small-scale solar (i.e., systems <1-MW) accounted for almost 30% (28.2%) of all solar generation and provided 2.0% of U.S. electricity supply in the first nine months of this year.[1]

In fact, small-scale solar PV is now generating nearly twice as much electricity as utility-scale biomass as well as over five times more electricity than either utility-scale geothermal or the mix of petroleum liquids and coke.

Key YTD Trends for the Mix of Renewables:

The electrical output of the nation’s wind farms in the first nine months of 2024 was 6.6% more than that of a year ago. Wind remains the largest source of electrical generation among renewable energy sources, accounting for 9.9% of the nation’s total.

The combination of wind and solar provided 17.0% of the nation’s electrical generation during the first three-quarters of 2024.

Renewables provided 24.0% of total U.S. electricity production in the first nine months of 2024 compared to 22.8% of electrical output a year earlier.

Between January and September, electrical generation by the mix of all renewables (i.e., wind and solar plus hydropower, biomass and geothermal) grew by 8.6% compared to the same period a year earlier – more than double the growth rate of natural gas (4.1%) and nearly seven times that of nuclear power (1.3%).

In September alone, electrical generation by renewables grew by 7.9% compared to September 2023 and was 21.3% of the U.S. total. A year earlier, their share had been only 19.8%.

Other Developments:

During the first nine months of 2024, wind out-produced hydropower by 76.4% while solar generation surpassed hydropower by 27.2%. In September alone, wind and solar produced 73.5% and 65.9% respectively more electricity than hydropower. [2]

Further, during the first nine months of this year, the combination of wind and solar produced 14.5% more electricity than did coal and came close to matching nuclear power’s share of total generation (17.0% vs. 17.6%).

The mix of renewables further strengthened their position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind only natural gas.

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Source:  

EIA released its latest “Electric Power Monthly” report on November 22, 2024. The full report can be found at: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly

For the data cited in this release, see Table ES1.B (“Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, Year-to-Date 2024 and 2023”) as well as Table ES1.A (“Total Electric Power Industry Summary Statistics, 2024 and 2023”)

Notes:   

[1] In its “Electric Power Monthly” report, EIA refers to small-scale or distributed solar as “Estimated Small Scale Solar Photovoltaic.” All calculations presented in this release include electrical generation by small-scale solar which EIA estimates to have totaled 67,294 gigawatthours (GWh) during the first nine months of 2024 and 7,543 GWh in September alone.

[2] In September 2024, wind produced 28,910 GWh (7.9%) of total U.S. electrical generation while utility-scale and small-scale solar combined produced 27,642 GWh (7.5%) and hydropower produced 16,660 GWh (4.5%).

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The SUN DAY Campaign is a non-profit research and educational organization founded in 1992 to support a rapid transition to 100% reliance on sustainable energy technologies as a cost-effective alternative to nuclear power and fossil fuels and as a solution to climate change. Follow on Twitter (or “X”): @SunDayCampaign