The American Clean Power Association (ACP) has released its Clean Power Quarterly Market Report – Q1 2024, which revealed an impressive start to the year. The report showed that the US utility-scale solar, wind, and storage sectors have added a combined new capacity of 5,585 MW this quarter. This is a rise of 28% compared to the same period last year.

Speaking about this notable performance, VP of Markets and Policy Analysis of ACP, John Hensley, said: “The first quarter of 2024 set the pace for the year, underscoring both an industry that continues to break barriers and the increasing demand for clean energy solutions. Crossing the 100 GW milestone for solar, launching groundbreaking projects like South Fork Wind, and a record-setting pace of new contracts for clean energy are clear indicators of the public’s demand to bolster the grid with domestic, reliable and affordable clean energy.”

Key solar highlights from the Q1 2024 report include:

• For the 1st time, operating utility-scale solar capacity surpassed 100 GW
• The 1st 50 GW of US solar capacity was built in 18 years, but it only took 4 years to double to 100 GW
• A substantial 4,557 MW of new solar capacity was added in Q1 2024, contributing to the US climbing to over 100,547 MW of installed utility-scale solar
• About 40% of the newly installed solar came online in Florida in Q1

With the clean power pipeline expanding to nearly 175 GW (the highest on record), the future of clean energy seems to be bright. This expansion can be attributed to battery storage and solar, which have grown at an average rate of 11% and 4% per quarter since Q2/2022.

Earlier in March this year, ACP had reported 33.8 GW of new utility-scale solar, onshore wind, and energy storage capacity for the US in 2023 (see US Utility-Scale Clean Energy Capacity Grew By 33.8 GW In 2023).