Summary:

Even though COVID-19 has set back the renewable energy industry, sources of renewable energy, like wind energy and solar power are outpacing fossil-fuels in the United States.

Main Article:

Renewable Energy Outpaces Nuclear and Coal in the US

This year has been a benchmark for renewable energy generation, with the latest edition of the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Electric Power Monthly report showing clean energy facilities produced more electricity through May 31 than coal and nuclear.

A breakout year for renewable energy was highlighted by the figures for May, when clean energy resources reached an all-time high share of the country’s electricity generation, at 25.3%. That figure, as with much of the renewable energy generation this year, was driven by hydroelectric, which accounted for almost 17% of the electricity generated that month.

However, while hydro has had a consistent hold on the top spot for renewable energy generation, that grip is loosening by the month. The amount of solar power generated from January to May, compared to the same period of last year and including distributed solar power, is up roughly 21%, with PV solar panel installations now accounting for 3.3% of the nation’s total power generation.

Renewable energy on the rise

As fast as solar panels has expanded, wind is keeping pace, with the two resources expanding faster than all other energy sources. Solar power and wind energy together provided 12.6% of U.S. electrical generation during the first five months of the year. That mark is about 14% higher than in the same period of last year.

While no generation source can properly be thought to have benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic, solar has weathered the storm better than coal, which generated 35% less electricity in May than in the same month last year, and nuclear, which saw its production volume fall 4% on the same comparison. Nuclear and coal each accounted for around 21% of total US generation in May.

With wind energy generating 8.5% more electricity in May than in the same month of last year, and geothermal gaining 5.5%, the big winner – by the year-on-year May comparison – was solar power, which produced 30% more power during the month this year than it did 12 months earlier.

In absolute generation terms, natural gas continued to rule the roost in May this year, with the 116 TWh generated exactly the same figure as in the same month of 2019. Nuclear generated 64.3 TWh, down from 67.1 TWh a year earlier; coal produced 46.5 TWh, down from 71.9 TWh; and PV solar panel installations came in at an estimated 13.5 TWh, up from 10.4 TWh.

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