In the course of the first 4 months of 2022, electrical technology by renewable vitality sources accounted for over 25% of the nation’s electrical energy. In April alone, renewables accounted for 29.3% — an all-time excessive.
And for the primary time ever, the mixture of simply wind and photo voltaic produce extra electrical energy in April than the nation’s nuclear energy crops — 17.96% extra.
That is in accordance with a SUN DAY Marketing campaign evaluation of knowledge in EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report. The report additionally reveals that throughout the first third of this yr, photo voltaic (together with residential) expanded by 28.93%, whereas wind elevated by 24.25%. Mixed, photo voltaic and wind grew by 25.46% and accounted for greater than one-sixth (16.67%) of U.S. electrical technology (wind: 12.24%, photo voltaic: 4.43%).
Hydropower additionally elevated by 9.99% throughout the first 4 months of 2022. Nonetheless, wind alone supplied 70.89% extra electrical energy than did hydropower. Along with contributions from geothermal and biomass, the combo of renewable vitality sources expanded by 18.49% and supplied 25.52% of the nation’s electrical energy throughout the first 4 months of 2022.
For the primary third of the yr, renewables outpaced coal and nuclear energy by 26.13% and 37.80% respectively. In actual fact, electrical technology by coal declined by 3.94% in comparison with the identical interval in 2021 whereas nuclear dropped by 1.80%.
“However headwinds such because the COVID pandemic, grid entry issues, and disruptions in international provide chains, photo voltaic and wind stay on a roll,” famous the SUN DAY Marketing campaign’s government director Ken Bossong. “Furthermore, by surpassing nuclear energy by ever better margins, they illustrate the foolishness of attempting to revive the soon-to-retire Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California and the just-retired Palisades reactor in Michigan slightly than specializing in accelerating renewables’ development.”
Information merchandise from SUN DAY