SUN DAY CAMPAIGN
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Brief News Update
1st Quarter 2018:
RENEWABLES REACH 19.2% OF U.S. ELECTRICAL GENERATION
AS NON-HYDRO RENEWABLES INCREASE BY 13.4%
WIND GROWS 12.9% AND OUTPACES HYDROPOWER
SOLAR UP BY 33.2% – NOW ALMOST 2% OF TOTAL OUTPUT;
MORE THAN DOUBLE THAT FROM OIL
Washington DC – Renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) accounted for 19.2% of net domestic electrical generation during the first quarter of 2018, according to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of data recently released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
In addition, the latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” (with data through March 31, 2018) reveals that wind accounted for 7.8% of total electrical generation during the first three months of this year, exceeding – for the first time – that produced by hydropower (7.6%).
Solar alone (i.e., utility-scale + distributed PV) is now providing almost 2% (i.e., 1.8%) of the nation’s electrical production. As such it is now surpassing that supplied by either biomass (1.6%) or geothermal (0.4%). Moreover, the net electrical generation by solar (utility-scale + distributed PV) during the first quarter more than doubled that of utility-scale oil-fired facilities (i.e., those using petroleum liquids + petroleum coke).
EIA’s data also show that electric power output by non-hydro renewable sources increased by 13.4% compared to the first quarter of 2017. Geothermal was up by 1.0%, biomass by 1.7%, wind by 12.9%, and solar (including small-scale distributed PV) by 33.2%.
However, net electrical generation by hydropower dropped by 6.9% so the combination of hydropower and non-hydro renewables experienced a net increase of 4.4% compared to the same time period in 2017.
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