Solar & Wind Power = 99.7% of New US Electricity Capacity in 1st Quarter of 2021

Published

3 years ago

June 14, 2021

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Not including rooftop solar power, solar PV accounted for 36.5% of new US electricity generation capacity in the first quarter of 2021. (Note that we are talking about new power capacity in this article, not electricity generation itself.) Another 63.2% of new US electricity generation capacity came from new wind power plants. Those two combine for 99.7% of new US power capacity. Not that it really matters at such a low percentage, but another 0.1% came from hydropower and 0.2% came from coal power.

In March, 100% of new power capacity came from solar and wind power.

In terms of actual capacity increases, 477 megawatts (MW) of solar and wind were added in March, and 4625 MW were added in January–March.

Despite the high percentage of new power capacity, the 2021 increase in the first quarter was well below the Q1 2020 and Q1 2019 increases (8303 MW and 6084 MW, respectively). In those time periods, though, the percentage of overall power capacity increases were 51% and 47.6%, respectively. So, clearly, a positive shift is underway.

Looking at overall installed power capacity (not just power capacity additions), solar and wind have gone from 11.4% in Q1 2019 to 12.7% in Q1 2020 to 14.8% in Q1 2021. Progress.

As far as all renewables combined, the progression is: 21.6% in Q1 2019, 22.8% in Q1 2020, 24.7% in Q1 2021.

The specific power plant additions across US electricity grids in the month of March were:

Frontier Windpower II LLC’s 351.8 MW Frontier Windpower Expansion in Kay County, OK is online. The power generated is sold to City of Springfield MO under long-term contract.
Wapello Solar LLC’s 100.0 MW Wapello Solar Project in Louisa County, IA is online. The power generated is sold to Central Iowa Power Coop. under long-term contract.
Solar Star Prime 2 LLC’s 7.0 MW Solar Star Prime 2 Project in Richmond County, NY is online.

In actuality, rooftop solar power might have added more US power capacity than the three projects above all combined in March. However, we don’t have data on that yet.

Another other thoughts on these figures?

Shortly, I will be publishing our March and Q1 2021 US electricity generation report. The electricity generation numbers will look much less rosy than the capacity numbers above.

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Environment

BP trims down executive team, picks new head of its gas and low carbon energy business

Published

2 hours ago

April 18, 2024

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BP trims down executive team, picks new head of its gas and low carbon energy business

A general view of the BP logo and petrol station forecourt sign on January 22, 2024 in Southend, United Kingdom.

John Keeble | Getty Images News | Getty Images

British oil major BP on Thursday trimmed its executive team down to 10 members and announced William Lin as the new head of the firm’s oil and low carbon energy business.

Lin replaces Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, who will be retiring from the position.

The company also announced Emeka Emembolu as the new lead of BP’s technology functions, taking over from Leigh-Ann Russell, who is due to leave the group.

BP said it was simplifying its organizational structure to help “grow the value” of the business.

“As I set out in February, bp’s destination from IOC to IEC is unchanged – and we need to deliver as a simpler, more focused and higher value company,” BP CEO Murray Auchincloss said in a statement.

“These changes will help us do just that, reducing complexity within bp, allowing our team to focus on delivering our priorities and growing the value of bp,” he added.

BP’s executive team has been cut to 10 members, down from 11 previously, as the company seeks to “reduce duplication and reporting line complexity,” a statement said.

The current regions, corporates and solutions organization will be integrated into the firm’s businesses and functions.

The energy major said the financial reporting structure of the firm remains unchanged and that it will continue to have three businesses: production and operations, gas and low carbon energy and customers and products — enabled by trading and shipping.

Shares of London-listed BP traded 0.8% lower on Thursday morning. The stock price is up around 10% year-to-date.

BP’s first-quarter results are scheduled for release on May 7.

Environment

Daily EV Recap: Tesla asks shareholders to move to Texas

Published

10 hours ago

April 17, 2024

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Daily EV Recap: Tesla asks shareholders to move to Texas

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded Monday through Thursday and again on Saturday. Subscribe to our podcast in Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they’re available.

Stories we discuss in this episode (with links):

Tesla Semi has been pushed ‘well beyond expectations’ by a new customer

These new EV charging features are coming to Google Maps

Tesla asks shareholders to move to Texas and re-pass Elon Musk’s massive compensation plan

How Gogoro is making the world’s largest EV battery swapping network greener

Kia has the ‘secret sauce’ for affordable EVs in the US

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Environment

US to restore tariffs on solar panels from China – Reuters

Published

11 hours ago

April 17, 2024

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US to restore tariffs on solar panels from China – Reuters

The Biden administration is expected to restore US tariffs on imported solar panels from China and other countries, according to a Reuters exclusive.

According to “two sources familiar with the White House plans,” Reuters reports, South Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, investing $2.5 billion in US solar manufacturing, requested that the two-year-old trade exemption for imported solar panels be reversed.

Qcells formally petitioned the US trade representative on February 23 to reinstate the solar tariffs, and seven other US solar manufacturers, also investing billions combined, wrote letters of support.

Reuters’ sources said that no timeline has been decided for when the tariffs will be reinstated.

More than 40 US solar equipment factories planned since President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 will benefit from the foreign solar goods tariff.

It was the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) that lobbied for the tariff exemption because US installers and developers rely on cheap imports to keep costs down. Reuters said:

In a statement, SEIA did not address the exemption directly but advocated for an increase in the amount of solar cells that can be imported tariff-free to help companies assembling American-made panels.

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