Over 25% of U.S. electricity came from renewables in first half of 2022

Renewable energy sources provided 25.23% of the country’s electrical generation capacity in the first six months of 2022, this according to a SUN DAY Campaign review of data just released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through June 30, 2022) reveals that renewable energy sources (including residential solar systems) increased their electrical output by nearly one-fifth (18.45%) compared to the same period a year earlier and provided just over one-quarter of total U.S. electrical generation.

For the six-month period, electrical generation by wind increased by 24.67% and provided 11.55% of total electrical generation. Meanwhile, solar sources grew by 27.72% and provided 4.94% of the nation’s electrical output. In June alone, solar accounted for 5.70% of U.S. electrical generation.

Taken together, renewable energy sources comfortably out-produced both coal and nuclear power by 28.76% and 38.81%, respectively. The combination of just wind and solar generated almost as much as the nation’s nuclear power plants (344,685 GWh vs. 379,927 GWh) and, in fact, actually out-produced nuclear in the month of April.

EIA has projected that renewable energy sources will provide 22% of U.S. electrical output this year. Including power generated by residential solar, renewables actually provided 22.3% last year and 24.4% in the first quarter of this year. At the year’s half-way point, renewables have already surpassed 25% — surpassing EIA’s yearly projections already.

“Renewables seem poised to once again out-perform official government forecasts,” noted the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director Ken Bossong. “Now providing one-quarter of the nation’s electrical output, it is conceivable that with the incentives provided by the new Inflation Reduction Act, wind, solar and other renewables will reach the one-third point within the next few years and dominate electrical generation thereafter.”

News item from SUN DAY

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Original Source: https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2022/08/over-25-of-u-s-electricity-came-from-renewables-in-first-half-of-2022/