ACP announces 91% increase in U.S. clean energy capacity since 2023

U.S. annual and cumulative clean power capacity growth. Source | American Clean Power (ACP)

On Sept. 5, The American Clean Power Association (ACP, Washington, D.C., U.S.) released its Q2 2024 “Clean Power Quarterly Market Report,” showcasing rapid growth and milestones across the U.S. clean power landscape — this includes land-based and offshore wind, solar and energy storage. In a record-breaking second quarter, U.S. developers added 11 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale clean power capacity, marking a 91% increase from Q2 2023.  

Clean energy breakdown

Utility-scale solar continued to provide the largest share of clean power additions in Q2 2024, with 95 new projects commissioned, accounting for 61% of the total capacity installed. 

Energy storage also had a strong second quarter for installations, with 33 new
projects bringing more than 2.9 GW of new online capacity. Eight of the 33 projects were 200 MW or larger.

Land-based wind installations grew in Q2 2024, both compared to Q1 and Q2 2023. Developers brought nine new wind projects online, several of which were full repowering projects, and completed one partial repowering project. The two largest new onshore wind projects to come online in Q2 were RWE’s Montgomery Ranch Wind Farm (202.5 MW) and TransAlta’s Horizon Wind Farm (200 MW).

Clean power capacity additions by quarter (Q2 2023 vs. Q2 2024). 

The quarter brought year-to-date installations up to 19 GW, more than double the 5-year average for H1 installations. With the second half of the year typically much stronger than the first half for clean power additions, ACP believes that the stage is set for a second consecutive record-breaking year in 2024. 

“While all clean energy technologies are expanding their market share, energy storage is scaling at a stunning speed and has surpassed 20 GW of operating capacity,” says ACP CEO Jason Grumet. “With rapidly growing demand and the need to make significant strides in decarbonizing our economy, the stakes are high. Our recent progress is encouraging, but we are not moving fast enough. ACP is committed to working with all stakeholders and policymakers to accelerate progress toward a secure, reliable and clean energy future.”  

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Developers added more than 11 GW of new

• utility-scale solar, storageand wind capacity in the second quarter, 91% more than what was installed during the same period in 2023. 
• For the first time, Texas has surpassed California as the leading state for utility-scale solar capacity. With 1,656 megawatts (MW) added this quarter, Texas now boasts of 21,932 MW of operating solar power. 
• The U.S. energy storage sector celebrated surpassing 20 GW of total operational capacity, adding 2.9 GW this quarter to reach a total of 21.6 GW. 
• Annual growth in the clean power pipeline increased by 13% from the previous year, with significant expansions expected in offshore wind in the coming months. 
• At mid-2024, 5.5 GW of additional onshore wind projects were under construction than at the same point in 2023, bringing the total volume under construction up to more than 14 GW.  
• Q2 2024 set a record for the most offshore wind capacity under construction with more than 4 GW of capacity. 

As the U.S. clean power sector heads into the second half of 2024, the data indicates potential for another record-setting year. With more than 283 GW of clean power now operational, the industry continues to play a crucial role in modernizing our electricity generation. 

A scaled-down version of the report is available to the public, with ACP membership granting access to the full report.