US broke clean energy growth record by 12.5%, reveals 2023 report

imeng.vip:03月-09日

Team of two engineers installing solar panels on roof.

The American Clean Power Association (ACP) has released its annual market report for 2023. The newly released document revealed insights about the US clean energy sector.

Given our planet facing the ill effects of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability have become more important than ever. Companies, governments, and individuals are rightly taking it more seriously. Since 2023, over a staggering 33.8 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale clean energy projects have been added.

More importantly, this surpassed the previous record set in 2021 by an impressive 12.5%. Solar and storage projects emerged as the driving forces behind this surge, leading to clean power additions. The USA now boasts a total of 262 GW of clean energy fueling its grid. This amount could sufficiently power around 69 million American households.

The increase in clean energy is one crazy big milestone. 16% of the nation’s electricity generation is now sourced from wind and solar installations. Energy infrastructure has now permeated over 93% of congressional districts. The new energy rating spans across all 50 states of the United States of America.

Interestingly, earlier this year, China’s National Agency reported that its solar power generation grew by over 55 percent in 2023. With these numbers, China was able to add over 216 gigawatts of solar power last year.

While China’s numbers are truly jaw-dropping, it must be noted that the nation already had its eye on the ball since 2020. The Asian superpower intends to reach its emissions target by 2030 while also achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

The US also improving its clean energy generation is truly a thing to be admired and this is the type of ‘competition’ our planet needs.

Sustainability, progress, and challenges
Despite the overall success, the wind industry faced challenges in 2023. For example, the wind industry recorded its slowest year in a decade with only 6.4 GW of new wind power capacity installed. Clean power represented 77% of all new electricity capacity added in 2023.

Various factors contributed to this slowdown. There were many policy uncertainties and high capital costs. There were also prolonged permitting processes, sitting obstacles, and challenges in building new transmission infrastructure.

Several companies, including Amazon, Meta, and Google, played a pivotal role in driving clean energy demand. They did so by actively procuring clean power for their operations. Out of the three, Meta emerged as the leading buyer of operational clean power. Amazon secured the highest contracted clean power capacity.

While challenges persist in the wind sector, the clean power industry remains optimistic about the future. Developers began construction on 41 GW of new projects in the final months of 2023, bringing the clean power pipeline to a record 170 GW.

So much has been done already but the momentum cannot be lost yet. Although the record-breaking pace of annual installations is commendable, we still fall short of the targets needed for the United States to achieve its net-zero emissions goal by 2050.

But we can confidently say that ACP’s Clean Power Annual Market Report for 2023 shows we are on the right path. It also educates new residents on what it means to live sustainably.