US renewable electricity grew to 16.7% of total installed capacity and 13.8% of total power generation in 2015, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The NREL – part of the Department of Energy – said in its 2015 Renewable Energy Data Book that renewable electricity accounted for 64% of US capacity additions in 2015, compared with 52% in 2014.
Solar generation increased by 35.8% or 11.7TWh, wind was up 5.1% of 9.3TWh, while hydro declined by 3.2%.
However, hydro accounted for more than 44% of total renewable electricity generation, wind 34%, biomass 11%, solar 8% and geothermal 3%.
Installed wind capacity increased by more than 12%, accounting for over 56% of US renewable electricity capacity installed in 2015, while solar capacity increased by 36%.
California continued to have the most installed renewable electricity capacity with nearly 31GW, followed by Washington with almost 25GW and Texas with more than 19GW.
The highest growth rate of new renewables was in Oklahoma, followed by North Carolina, Utah and Kansas.
Image: Enel
Green power grows in US
Renewable electricity accounted for 64% of US capacity additions in 2015
By EBS