US wind and solar return to rapid growth

After a period of relative stagnation, wind and solar generation are set to continue their recent renaissance

Combined wind and solar generation soared from 9.65pc to 11.6pc of total US electricity last year, marking a return to strength after several years of sluggish growth. Led by the biggest single-year deployment of new wind power, around 21GW of capacity, America grew total wind and solar generation by 16.7pc—rising from 403 TWh to 470 TWh. Importantly, base effects from the pandemic were not significant. Yes, last year’s total system demand fell 2.7pc, from 4,163TWh to 4,051TWh, but that is within the range of normal variability. US generation has consistently oscillated around 4,000TWh/yr for more than 15 years. There is no other way to slice the data: wind and solar, along with natural gas,