US adds some biomass, solar capacity in May, natural gas brings 85%

A 50-MW biomass plant and 312 MW of large solar photovoltaic (PV) parks came online in the US in May, while large wind remained at zero megawatts.

With 2,087 MW of new capacity in service, natural gas-fired power plants accounted for 85% of all new capacity for the month. Their share was lower, at 62%, in the first five months of the year, but still natural gas remains the main source of new power in the US this year.

The biomass plant that started operations is located in Honolulu Hawaii. It is called the Schofield Generating Station and is operated by Hawaiian Electric.

The biggest of the solar farms that came into service in May is Vista Energy’s 180-MW Luminant Castle Gap Project in Texas.

No new large-scale wind capacity has been recorded for two months in a row, but the cumulative capacity, currently standing at 91 GW in the US, is seen to double by mid-2021, as shown in the table. It contains details on new and cumulative capacity by source, and proposed additions and retirements by June 2021.

The full FERC report is available at https://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/2018/may-energy-infrastructure.pdf.

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