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February 27, 2024
By Michelle Lewis
Renewables expand to 23% of US
electrical generation in 2023, with solar in the lead
Photo: EDF Renewables North America
Renewables provided over 22.7% of US electrical generation in 2023,
according to newly released end-of-year US Energy Information
Administration (EIA) data.
EIA’s latest “Electric
Power Monthly” (with data through December 31, 2023) reports that
the combination of utility-scale and small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar
increased by 16.1% last year. Small-scale solar alone grew by 20.1% –
faster than any other energy source. In December alone, small-scale
solar increased by 21.4% while total solar grew by 30.7%.
As a result, by the end of 2023, solar was
5.6% of total US electrical generation. Small-scale solar accounted
for 30.9% of all solar generation and provided more than 1.7% of US
electricity supply last year.
Solar generation has now nearly matched
hydropower (also 5.6% of the total) and should surpass it within the
next few months to become the second largest renewable energy source,
behind only wind.
Similarly, the mix of solar (5.6%) and wind
(10%) is closing in on coal (15.9%) and seems well-positioned to
overtake the fossil fuel this year. Including biomass and geothermal,
the mix of all non-hydro renewables (17.1%) has already surpassed
coal, which dropped in the US electricity mix by 18.8% compared to
2022.
The combination of all renewables (i.e.,
biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) outproduced nuclear by
almost a quarter (24.7%). Notwithstanding the recent addition of the
Vogtle-3 reactor in Georgia, nuclear-generated electricity increased
by 0.49% in 2023, while that of renewables grew by 0.52%.
Together, renewables provided over 22.7% of US
electrical generation in 2023, up modestly from 22.4% in 2022. Solar’s
strong growth, coupled with a 2.3% increase in geothermal, was offset
by a 2.1% drop in power from wind turbines as well as 5.9% less
hydropower and an 8.4% fall in biomass-generated electricity.
Nonetheless, renewables strengthened their
position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind
only natural gas (42.4%).
“Led by solar, the mix of renewable energy
sources have once again expanded their share of the nation’s
electrical generation,” noted Ken Bossong, executive director of the
SUN DAY Campaign, who reviewed the data. “They now produce
significantly more electricity than either nuclear power or coal and
are on track to widen the gap in the year ahead.”
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