US clean energy growth hits new high in 2024: Report

Market: Electricity, Emissions
05/03/25

The US added a record amount of clean energy capacity last year, driven by gains in utility-scale solar and energy storage, according to an industry report.

Developers added about 48,700MW of zero-emissions generation to the US grid last year, an increase of 33pc from the previous record additions set in 2023, according to a quarterly report from the American Clean Power Association (ACP), a trade group.

Clean energy — which, for ACP's purposes, includes utility-scale solar, wind and energy storage — accounted for 93pc of all new capacity in the US during 2024, surpassing the 75pc average over the previous five years.

A record amount of new utility-scale solar, 33,000MW, fueled the 2024 growth. Energy storage grew by nearly 11,300MW, also a record.

At the same time, onshore wind grew by just over 3,900MW, the lowest total since 2013. While the industry expected slower growth last year as a consequence of lengthy interconnection queues and delayed guidance on federal tax credits, the final tally was even lower than anticipated after multiple projects delayed commissioning until 2025, ACP said.

The total US clean energy fleet now sits at almost 313,400MW. While onshore wind remains the largest source of zero-emissions generation at about 154,600MW, solar is closing the gap with almost 129,700MW. Energy storage and offshore wind trail at 28,900MW and 174MW, respectively.

The US added about 18,900MW of clean energy capacity during the fourth quarter, the second highest increase for any three-month period behind only October-December 2023. About 14,000MW came from photovoltaic projects, the most ever for a three-month period.

Texas' clean energy fleet remained the largest in the US at almost 79,300MW, followed by California at about 41,300MW. Iowa, Oklahoma and Florida rounded out the top five, with roughly 13,900MW, 12,900MW and 11,500MW, respectively.

By Patrick Zemanek

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