A new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects 54% of new electric-generating capacity in the U.S. to come from solar energy for 2023. Developers are planning to add 54.5 gigawatts of new utility-scale electric-generating capacity to the country’s power grid this year, most of it being solar, according to EIA’s Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, in which developers and power plant operators report upcoming projects to EIA.

Developers have about 29.1 gigawatts of utility-scale solar capacity planned for 2023, following a recent decline of 23% from 2022 compared to 2021. Prior to that decline, solar electric-generating capacity had been rising since 2010, but supply chain issues and the pandemic lead to a decline last year. EIA predicts that delayed projects from 2022 may be part of the high percentage of the electric-generating capacity coming from solar projects for 2023.

EIA also noted that should all of these planned projects go into operations for 2023, this year will have the highest amount of utility-scale solar capacity added in one year. The current record is 13.4 gigawatts of utility-scale solar capacity added in 2021.

Read the full article about solar energy by Paige Bennett at Eco-Watch.