The results of operations of USA’s electric power industry for the first three quarters of the current year have been summed up. The electrical energy generation decreased by 2.5% as compared to the same period of the previous year. All conventional energy generation sources (coal, gas, nuclear) have reduced the generation volumes. The natural gas-based energy generation went down by 10.9%, the natural gas consumption in the energy sector itself went down by 9.5%.
At the same time, the electrical energy generation from the renewable energy sources have increased substantially. The photovoltaic solar generation has increased by 46.8% (up to 58.2 TWh) as compared to 2016, its share in total power generation has reached 1.9%. The production of solar power plants has increased in all states.
Wind power generation has increased by 11.5% and has reached 183 TWh (for comparison, this is more than all electrical energy consumption in Spain over the same period).
The share of photovoltaic and wind energy generation in the overall energy production has amounted to 7.9%. With the addition of the solar thermal energy generation, this amount exceeds 8%. For comparison, this figure was only about 2% in 2006.
All renewable energy sources, including the hydropower, have produced approximately 17.8% of the American electricity.
It goes without saying that the climate conditions affect the renewable energy production. At the same time, a large USA territory increasingly levels out this factor contribution. All in all, the growth of the share and volumes of the electrical power produced from the renewable energy sources is becoming an obvious trend.