US adds 1.5 GW of wind, solar capacity in 4-mo 2015

The US installed 1.9 GW of new power generation capacity in the first four months of 2015, with wind and solar parks bringing over 1.5 GW of the total, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said.

More specifically, the newly added wind capacity in the country amounted to 1,170 MW in January-April 2015, up from 633 MW a year before. The US now has 67,160 MW of wind parks, which represents 5.74% of its total operating power capacity.

Meanwhile, some 362 MW of solar power plants came on line in the first four months, which compares to 937 MW in the same period of 2014. The cumulative solar capacity in the country thus reached 12,260 MW.

In April alone, the US’ wind and solar capacity grew by 511 MW and 50 MW, respectively. According to FERC’s data, these were the only new power plants for the month, which means the US did not install any fossil fuel capacity.

The number-one source in terms of operating generating capacity remains natural gas with a total 494 GW, followed by coal with 321.7 GW. All renewables, including hydropower, represent about 200 GW.

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