U.S. large-scale photovoltaic installations will surpass wind power in 2022

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), by 2022, the installed capacity of large-scale solar power in the United States will surpass wind power for the first time. As the government reduces its support for onshore wind power, grid-level photovoltaic installed capacity is expected to surpass wind power by 16GW to 6GW.

The US Energy Information Administration predicts that in 2021, the new installed wind power capacity will total 18GW, slightly higher than the 16GW of photovoltaics. With the acceleration of photovoltaic installations, the total installed capacity of the United States in the first quarter of this year exceeded 100GW.

The U.S. Infrastructure Act allocates $73 billion in investment for clean energy, and the share of grid-level renewable energy installed in the power supply structure is expected to reach a new high of 21% this year, and is expected to further increase to 23% by 2022.

At the same time, due to the extension of the project due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the US Internal Revenue Service will allow the completion of existing wind power and photovoltaic projects to be extended by one to two years, and include federal tax credits for projects starting from 2016 to 2020.

As part of the net-zero path, the US Energy Earthshots scheme will allocate US$52.5 million for 31 next-generation clean hydrogen R&D projects. The selected projects have the potential to bridge the technological gaps in production, storage, transportation and utilization. The relevant technologies involve technological innovation of electrolyzers, new fuel cell design, and domestic supply systems.