State of U.S. renewables: slow growing

July 30, 2015 | By Jaclyn Brandt

According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Office of Energy Projects' Energy Infrastructure Update, in the first six months of 2015, there were a total of 125 energy units added -- for a total of 3,888 megawatts (MW). In June alone, 10 units were added, for a total of 491 MW.

Credit: Geoz/Wikimedia Commons

But although numerous units were added to the grid, the overall added capacity was significantly lower than that added in the first six months of 2014 -- which was 284 units with a total capacity of 5,532 MW.

Biomass in the United States is again growing, with 128 megawatts (MW) of the generation source added in the first six months of 2015 -- with seven biomass units added in that time, compared with 35 in the first six months of 2015 -- for a combined 137 MW. Biomass capacity is now around 1.4 percent of US capacity, with 16.31 GW on the US grid.

Other sources added in Q1 and Q2 of 2015 include 15 MW of natural gas; 320 MW of wind; 62 MW of solar -- for a total of nine units. There was no coal, nuclear, water, geothermal, or other types of energy added during the month of June.

Natural gas continues to be the US leader -- with 42.66 percent of total capacity in the US; coal is just behind at 26.83 percent; and nuclear is next at 9.20 percent.

Numerous electric transmission projects were also approved, but only for a few utilities. Of the 11 completed lines in the time period, there were only four utilities involved: FirstEnergy, Duke Energy, Dominion, and Lincoln Electric. Transmission is one of the only areas that is increasing.

According to FERC, as of the end of June 2015, there was 1,164.44 GW of power generation capacity in the United States.

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http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/state-us-renewables-slow-growing/2015-07-30