Texas has surpassed California as the leading US state for total installed utility-scale solar PV capacity.
According to the American Clean Power Association’s (ACP) latest quarterly market report, Texas has nearly 22GW of installed PV capacity after adding 1.6GW of solar PV in the second quarter of 2024.
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All renewables combined, the US added 11GW of solar PV, wind and energy storage capacity in Q2 2024, up 91% from the same period in 2023 and a record-breaking addition for any Q2. This strong quarter brought clean energy installations up to 19GW for the first half of the year. ACP expects the second half of the year to be stronger still, which would see the US post a second consecutive year of record additions.
ACP’s numbers are more or less on par with a recent report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) which registered 20.2GW of utility-scale capacity added during H1 2024. However, the EIA numbers take into account all technologies, including non-renewables. Of the 20.2GW of capacity additions, more than half came from solar PV, according to the EIA, with 12GW. Texas and California accounted for 38% of solar PV additions during H1 2024.
Solar PV has had a strong start in 2024 so far, with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) publishing earlier this year the numbers for Q1 2024. During the first three months of 2024, the US added 11.8GW of solar PV capacity, which accounts for not just utility-scale but also residential, commercial and industrial (C&I) and community solar. This represented a new record for any first quarter, and only second highest capacity additions of any quarter after Q4 2023.
Battery energy storage systems surpasses 20GW operational output
Energy storage continues to grow steadily, with 2.9GW of output added in Q2 2024 and surpassing 20GW of total operational assets.
The Gemini solar-plus-storage project, developed and built by investment fund Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and its subsidiary, independent power producer (IPP) Primergy Solar, was the largest project to reach commercial operations in 2024. The project is located in the US state of Nevada and has an installed solar PV capacity of 690MW.
“Clean energy is answering the call to unleash more American energy, with another record quarter of deployment. While all clean energy technologies are expanding their market share, energy storage is scaling at a stunning speed and has surpassed 20 GW of operating capacity,” said ACP CEO Jason Grumet.
