- EIA counts 29.1 GW new utility scale solar PV capacity to come online in the US in 2023
- Solar installations are likely to get a boost with some of the projects delayed from 2022
- 41% of this expected solar capacity will come from the 2 states of Texas and California alone
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) in the US forecasts solar power to account for more than half (54%) or 29.1 GW of 54.5 GW new utility scale power generation capacity the country is likely to install in 2023, to be followed by battery storage making up 17% or 9.4 GW.
It bets on some of the projects that couldn’t come online due to supply chain disruptions and other pandemic-related challenges in 2022 for this forecast. “If all of this capacity comes online as planned, 2023 will have the most new utility-scale solar capacity added in a single year, more than doubling the current record (referring to 13.4 GW in 2021),” stated the EIA.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, the US installed 17 GW DC utility scale solar in 2021 (see US Installed 23.6 GW DC Solar In 2021).
Back to the EIA: as per its Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, Texas is likely to install the most of 2023 utility scale PV at 7.7 GW, with California adding 4.2 GW. Both these states together are likely to account for 41% of planned new solar capacity.
These 2 states also have 71% of the new battery storage capacity planned in the country for this year to support wind and solar energy generation.
As for wind, the EIA forecasts a slowdown with 6.0 GW utility scale capacity in 2023, after installing more than 14 GW in 2020 and 2021 each.
With a delay of several years, 2 nuclear reactors—the 1st new nuclear units built in the US in over 30 years—are also scheduled to come online in the US with a combined 2.2 GW capacity. New 7.5 GW natural gas capacity too is likely to be energized this year, the EIA added.
