According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, more than 26 GW of new capacities were installed in the United States in 2016, with three energy sources accounting for 93% of these additions. In 2016, 9.5 GW of solar, 8 GW of gas and 6.8 GW of wind were installed, accounting for 36%, 31% and 26%, respectively, of new capacities.
Solar capacities soared in 2016 with 9.5 GW added, which is three-times higher than in 2015 (+3.1 GW) and even higher than total solar installations between 2013 and 2015 (9.4 GW). The same federal tax credit incentives for distributed solar installations available in 2015 were available in 2016 and more than 40% of the new capacities were installed in California (+3.9 GW). Wind capacity additions in 2016 should be lower than in 2015 (6.8 GW and 8.1 GW respectively). Around 0.3 GW of hydropower capacities were added in 2016, raising renewable installations to 16.6 GW, i.e. 64% of new capacities.
With around 8 GW installed in 2016, gas capacity additions should be slightly above the 7.8 GW average annual additions over the previous five years. Four states added more than 1 GW of natural gas-fired capacity this year: Pennsylvania (1.6 GW), Virginia (1.4 GW), Florida (1.3 GW), and Texas (1.1 GW).
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