According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), non-hydroelectric renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power are expected to be the fastest growing source of US power generation in 2019 and 2020. More specifically, utility-scale solar power generation is set to grow by 10% in 2019 and by 17% in 2020, while wind generation will grow by 12% in 2019 and 14% in 2020. By contrast, the total US power generation across all types of fuel is slated to decrease by 2% in 2019 and remain stable in 2020.
Approximately 11 GW of wind power generating capacity are forecast to come onstream in 2019, which would be the largest amount of new wind capacity installed in the United States since 2012. An additional 8 GW of wind capacity is also scheduled for commercial operation in 2020. The domestic wind power generation capacity is expected to grow by 12% and 14% during the next two years, respectively, and the share of wind in the US power mix is projected to rise from 7% in 2018 to 9% in 2020.
As for solar power generation capacity, about 4 GW will come online in 2019 and almost 6 GW in 2020. Over the 2019-2020 period, small-scale solar generating capacity is predicted grow by almost 9 GW. Solar power generation is thus forecast to contribute slightly more than 2% of total power generation in 2020.
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