Create new heights! US public utility scale PV reserve project capacity reached 37.9GW

According to the latest research by SolarMackenzie and Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA), USSolarMarketInsightReport, the US PV market research report, the US public utility scale PV reserve project capacity reached 37.9GW, breaking the record of 2018. 15GW, a new high. Due to the increase in utility-scale PV project transactions, the forecast for the next five years has been revised upwards by 6GW since the last quarter.

In the first half of 2019, the publicly-released utility-scale PV project capacity soared to 11.2GW, and only 6.2GW was harvested in the second quarter. In addition, the household PV market also rebounded from the same period last year.

"As photovoltaic costs continue to decline, photovoltaic power generation technology has become the lowest cost option for utilities, businesses and households, and it is not surprising that reserve projects have surged," said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of SEIA. "However, in us Continued advancement, when PV is expected to become a 20% source of power generation in the United States in 2030, support policies such as the PV Investment Tax Credit (ITC) are particularly critical to achieving this goal."

Our report shows that in addition to several utilities companies have announced large-scale procurement of photovoltaic power, Starbucks, Microsoft and other companies have also issued a trading statement to purchase photovoltaic power.

In fact, corporate PV power procurement capacity accounted for 17% of the new utility-scale PV capacity announced in 2019.

"As more and more companies commit to using 100% renewable energy, we expect that corporate green power purchases will also boost new utility capacity by more than 20% between 2019 and 2024," said Colin Smith, senior research consultant at WoodMackenzie. . "City, state and utility companies are already implementing renewable energy planning and zero-carbon commitments. We are beginning to see the enthusiasm of green power procurement, and it is expected that the quota system (RPS) will also promote more such green power purchases in the short to medium term. "

According to the report, 55% of the utility-scale projects announced in 2019 are the result of low-cost PV competition. Utilities-scale PV quotations are at their lowest point in history, and the recently signed purchase agreement price is $18-35 per MWh.

In the second quarter, 1GW of utility-scale photovoltaic capacity was connected to the grid, accounting for nearly half of the total installed capacity of 2.1GW in the quarter. Household PV has risen in several states, with a quarterly growth rate of 3% for grid-connected capacity and an annual growth rate of 8%. Due to policy changes and the interconnection of transmission lines in major markets, the PV installation capacity of non-domestic markets (including industrial and commercial and non-profit, community) declined during the quarter.