Solar to Account for Half of 63 GW Power Capacity Additions in the U.S. in 2025: EIA
The U.S. is projected to add 63 GW of new utility-scale power capacity in 2025, marking a nearly 30% increase from the 48.6 GW added in 2024. This represents the largest annual capacity installation since 2002, as reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory report. The analysis indicates that solar energy and battery storage will account for 81% of the anticipated capacity additions, with solar alone contributing over 50% to this growth.
Solar Generation
In 2024, a record 30 GW of utility-scale solar was integrated into the U.S. grid, which constituted 61% of the total capacity additions. Earlier in the same year, the forecast for utility-scale solar additions was set at 36.4 GW, or 58% of the new power capacity for that year. For 2025, EIA estimates that the country will install 32.5 GW of solar energy.
Texas and California are expected to lead the way with anticipated solar additions of 11.6 GW and 2.9 GW, respectively, together representing nearly 50% of the total capacity additions. Other states, including Indiana, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, and New York, are projected to each add over 1 GW, collectively contributing 7.8 GW to the solar capacity.
In the third quarter of 2024, the U.S. solar industry installed 8.6 GW of capacity, reflecting a 21% increase year-over-year but a 13% decline from the previous quarter, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q4 2024 report by Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association. Additionally, the community solar market achieved a record 1.7 GW of capacity in 2024, a 35% increase from 2023, as reported by Wood Mackenzie in collaboration with the Coalition for Community Solar Access.
Wind Generation
In 2024, the U.S. added 5.1 GW of wind capacity, the lowest figure since 2014. The EIA had initially forecasted wind additions to be 8.2 GW that year. For 2025, wind project installations are expected to reach 7.7 GW, with Texas, Wyoming, and Massachusetts forecasted to account for approximately 50% of this capacity. Notably, two large offshore wind projects—the 800 MW Vineyard Wind 1 in Massachusetts and the 715 MW Revolution Wind in Rhode Island—are set to begin operations in 2025.
Battery Storage
The growth of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) is expected to reach 18.2 GWh in 2025, which represents a 77% increase from the record 10.3 GWh added in 2024. The EIA had projected the U.S. would add 14.3 GWh of BESS in 2024, contributing to 23% of new power capacity additions.
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