By BF Staff
From the July / August 2024 Issue
The U.S. utility-scale solar, wind, and energy storage sectors added a combined 5,585 megawatts (MW) of new capacity in the first quarter of 2024, marking an increase of 28% compared to installations in the same period a year ago, according to the American Clean Power Association (ACP). ACP’s new Clean Power Quarterly Market Report, Q1 2024 finds the industry also reached significant milestones in the first quarter: utility-scale solar surpassed 100 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity, and the first offshore wind project in federal waters began supplying 132 MW of clean, reliable power to the grid.
“The first quarter of 2024 set the pace for the year, underscoring both an industry that continues to break barriers and the increasing demand for clean energy solutions,” said John Hensley, VP of Markets and Policy Analysis at the Association. “Crossing the 100 GW milestone for solar, launching groundbreaking projects like South Fork Wind, and a record-setting pace of new contracts for clean energy are clear indicators of the public’s demand to bolster the grid with domestic, reliable and affordable clean energy.”
Key highlights from the Q1 2024 report notes that utility-scale solar reached a major milestone — for the first time, operating utility-scale solar capacity surpassed 100 GW.
Other highlights included:
- It took 18 years to build the first 50 GW of U.S. solar capacity, and just four years to double to 100 GW.
- A substantial 4,557 MW of new solar capacity was added in Q1 2024, contributing to the U.S. climbing to over 100,547 MW of installed utility-scale solar.
The ACP report also highlights a significant increase in clean power procurement, with 52% increase from Q1 2023. This was represented with 7,773 MW of new Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) as utilities and corporate buyers pursuing renewables to power their businesses.
Overall, notes the ACP report, the clean power pipeline has expanded to expanded to nearly 175 GW — the highest amount on record. The robust expansion can be attributed to battery storage and solar, which have grown at an average rate of 11% and 4% per quarter since the second quarter of 2022, stated ACP. While energy storage deployments were flat compared to the same period in the previous year, the pipeline for new storage projects increased by 61% year-over-year to 31.6 GW in the near-term pipeline.
“Since so much renewable capacity has been coming online the last couple of years, we expect renewables—especially solar—to fill most of the gap in the power mix.”
— EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis
And, year-over-year land-based wind energy continues to grow. The ACP report noted a 37% year-over-year increase, to 13.7 GW. All in all, according to the ACP report, U.S. clean power capacity stands at 269,878 MW as of 2024, Q1.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects electricity demand will be about 2% higher in the second half of 2024 than in the same period of 2023, which means renewables and coal will have to provide more power to meet demand.
“The increase in electricity demand paired with a decrease in natural gas generation creates a gap between the power we need and the power being produced,” said EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis. “Utilities will look for a more economical alternative as natural gas prices go up. Since so much renewable capacity has been coming online the last couple of years, we expect renewables—especially solar—to fill most of the gap in the power mix. We expect utilities will also look to coal as a less expensive fuel source the rest of the year.”
Global View Of Clean Energy
Expanding the view of clean energy capacity to a global perspective is a May 2024 report from Ember, an energy think tank located in the United Kingdom. The organization’s recent “Global Electricity Review 2024” provides a comprehensive overview of the global power system in 2023 based on country-level data
A main finding by Ember was that growth in solar and wind pushed the world past 30% renewable electricity for the first time in 2023—compared to 19% in 2000.
“The renewables future has arrived,” said Dave Jones, Ember’s Director of Global Insights upon release of the report. “Solar in particular is accelerating faster than anyone thought possible.”
According to Ember’s findings, solar was the main supplier of electricity growth, adding more than twice as much new electricity generation as coal in 2023. Solar maintained its status as the fastest-growing electricity source for the 19th consecutive year, and surpassed wind to become the largest source of new electricity for the second year running.
Worldwide, Ember found solar generation growth in 2023 to be 23% and wind generation growth in 2023 was 10%.
Hydroelectric production in 2023 accounted for 14% of global electricity. It remains the largest source of clean power globally, yet generation reached a five-year low amid droughts in China and other parts of the world.
For more information, see the charts below from Ember’s “Global Electricity Review 2024” report.
In The Southeast: Alabama Power
Taking a look at one utility’s market for clean energy, Alabama Power sees that its customers are focused increasingly on clean energy sources, like solar.
Since 2021, under the company’s Renewable Generation Certificate (RGC), Alabama Power has obtained regulatory approval for 480 megawatts (MW) of new solar projects which are currently under development. In response to increasing demand, Alabama Power received approval from the Alabama Public Service Commission in June 2023 to expand the RGC authorization, allowing for the procurement of an additional 2,400 MW of renewable resources over the next six years. This authorization provides conditional flexibility to procure the 2,400 MW sooner if customer demand and market dynamics necessitate it.
To meet market demand, Alabama Power offers a suite of clean energy product offerings to help customers meet their renewable and sustainability goals, including Renewable Energy Credits (RECs), the Renewable Subscription Program (RSP), and On-site Solar/Energy Storage solutions.
Large business customers can purchase RECs directly from Alabama Power or participate in the RSP. RECs, sourced from existing wind facilities in Oklahoma and Kansas, can provide a cost-effective way for businesses to pursue clean energy goals.
The RSP can allow large business customers to support the construction of a dedicated solar facility, which would not be built without their financial backing. This program helps participants meet their corporate sustainability goals while supporting renewable energy investment in Alabama. Customers pay a flat monthly subscription fee based on the facility’s output and receive RECs along with a monthly energy credit based on Alabama Power’s hourly energy rate.
Novelis, a leading industrial aluminum company currently constructing a recycling and rolling plant in Baldwin County, Alabama, is collaborating with Southern Company subsidiary Alabama Power to provide renewable energy for its Bay Minette project. By participating in Alabama Power’s Renewable Subscription Program, Novelis supports the creation of two new 80-megawatt solar power generation plants in Alabama. These plants will cover over half of the Bay Minette facility’s renewable energy needs.
“At Novelis, we believe that strong partnerships like this are critical to advancing our commitment to the environment, the economy and the communities in which we operate,” said Suzanne Lindsay-Walker, Novelis’ Vice President of Sustainability when the agreement was forged. “Partnering with Southern Company and Alabama Power on renewable energy solutions, such as solar power, and exploring new technologies for carbon reduction will help us as we seek to meet our goals to reduce carbon emissions by 30% by 2026 and be carbon neutral by 2050 or sooner.”
On the data center side, Meta is constructing an $800 million next-generation facility in Montgomery, AL. This was announced in May 2024 and is expected to be operational by the end of 2026.
Once open, the facility will be LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be be supported by 100% renewable energy.
“We are thrilled to announce our newest data center will be located in Montgomery,” said Brad Davis, Director of Community and Economic Development at Meta “The city, and our specific location, offers great access to infrastructure and renewable energy, a strong pull of talent and most importantly, an amazing set of community partners.”
Arizona: Salt River Project Utility
Salt River Project (SRP), a non-profit organization providing electricity and water to customers in Central Arizona, has made increasing renewable resource investments. The utility provider currently has more than 2,300 megawatts (MW) of carbon-free energy resources—including nearly 1,000 MW of solar—serving its power customers. Additionally, more than 600 MW of batteries and pumped hydro storage are supporting SRP’s power grid.
SRP also has more solar energy capacity currently under development. Once all under-development solar is operational, total solar capacity on SRP’s power system will equal more than 2,400 MW. Additional battery energy storage capacity is also under development, which will bring SRP’s total battery storage to more than 1,100 MW by the end of 2024.
SRP’s recent Integrated System Plan process determined the utility will need to at least double resource capacity from a wide range of technologies in the next decade. By 2035, SRP’s plan prepares to add 7,000 MW of new renewable resources, which includes 6,000 MW of large-scale solar resources. This will triple SRP’s current portfolio of solar resources scheduled to come online by the end of 2025. The same plan also prepares to add 1,500 MW of new battery resources and 1,000 MW of long-duration energy storage capacity from pumped hydro by 2035.
Commercial and Industrial energy users can participate in several SRP renewable-resource, carbon-free and sustainability-focused offerings. These include Solar Choice and Solar Choice Select. SRP has allocated the energy from one of its upcoming utility-scale solar plants, connected directly to the grid, specifically for stakeholders who have renewable energy goals.
SRP Solar Choice is designed for small and medium-sized businesses (using less than 750,000 kWh across all accounts) to offset energy usage with utility-scale solar power over a rolling 12-month period. SRP Solar Choice Select is designed for commercial accounts exceeding 750,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) over a rolling 12-month period. With both programs, customers pay half a cent more per kWh ($0.005/kWh) for the energy offset by renewable solar energy.
The SRP REC Select program is designed to help large businesses reduce their carbon footprint and meet corporate sustainability goals with renewable energy certificates (RECs).
Some of SRP’s largest technology customers, such as Meta and Intel, have chosen to offset the energy consumption of their Arizona-based industrial facilities with 100% renewables to meet their respective sustainability goals. In these cases, they receive renewable energy credits (RECs) from newly developed renewable resources.
In December 2023, Meta announced its Mesa, AZ data center would be supported by new solar energy from SRP through a contract with U.S. clean energy provider, Ørsted. Under the contract, Meta will receive the majority portion of the solar energy generated by Ørsted’s Eleven Mile Solar Center, a 300-MW solar farm and 300-MW, four-hour battery energy storage system currently under construction in Pinal County, AZ.
The solar and stored energy not needed by the Meta data center will be available to SRP’s larger customer base.
“We are proud to partner with SRP to bring new solar energy to the grid. Access to renewable energy and a strong, reliable grid were an important part of our decision to build in Mesa,” said Urvi Parekh, Meta’s Head of Renewable Energy at the time. “Meta is committed to having a positive impact on local communities and we’re excited to help bring this additional investment and jobs to the area.”
Eleven Mile Solar Center is expected to be operational this year. Located on over 2,000 acres, the project’s storage capacity will contribute to the more than 1,100 MW of large-scale batteries that will be online on SRP’s system by the end of 2024.
Meeting The Demand
As energy demands rise across North America and the world, utilities, government, private industry, and other stakeholders are working to bring renewable sources online as quickly and reliably as possible. As companies consider energy in their relocation or expansion project, asking the right questions is key.
