BNEF expects the US to hit an all-time high of 65 gigawatts of new solar, wind and energy storage additions this year despite persistent structural hurdles like permitting and grid connections.
Solar and battery storage continue to set installation records, while wind energy has plateaued. Solar surpassed 2023's record installations in 2024, adding an estimated 39.6 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, compared to 27.4GW in 2023. Installed solar capacity in the U.S. now totals about 220 GW, enough to provide over 7% of the nation's electricity.
Installed solar capacity in the U.S. now totals about 220 GW, enough to provide over 7% of the nation's electricity. This continues a decade-long trend of rapid growth in solar power. Battery storage nearly doubled in 2024, with total installed capacity reaching almost 29 GW — and projected to grow another 47% in 2025.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), installed wind capacity totaled 153 GW at the end of 2024. Limited growth of wind power resulted in part from a focus on repowering older facilities as well as continued challenges related to supply chains, financing, interconnection and permitting.
How many GW of wind power are there?
Solar (1,080 GW) accounts for the majority of generation capacity in the queues. Substantial wind (366 GW) capacity is also actively seeking grid connection. The amount of offshore wind capacity in the queues (120 GW) represents four times the Biden Administration's goal of 30 GW installed by 2030.
Key findings of the study include: In total, there is technical potential for 5,750 GW of utility-scale photovoltaics (solar), 875 GW of land-based wind, 130 GW of hydrothermal, and 975 GW of enhanced geothermal generation on federal lands.
How many new power generation & energy storage are in interconnection queues?
The amount of new power generation and energy storage in interconnection queues across the US has surged over the last decade, with over 2,600 GW of total capacity now actively seeking interconnection. This represents a 6-fold increase since 2014 (Figure 1).