Sometimes it blows in April: Wind surpasses coal-fired generation
Wind Power

Sometimes it blows in April: Wind surpasses coal-fired generation

New data fresh off the desks of the fine folks at the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicates the United States set a new wind generation record in April. The latest Monthly Energy Review also shows wind generation exceeded coal-fired generation in March and April this year.

U.S. wind installations produced 45.9 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity in March 2024, eclipsing the 38.4 GWh generated by coal-fired power plants. The following month, coal-fired generation dropped to 37.2 GWh while wind generation blew away its previous high mark, churning out 47.7 GWh.

EIA included this lovely chart which demonstrates the steady growth of wind generation and the slow decline of our reliance on coal:

Installed wind power generating capacity has grown from 2.4 GW in 2000 to 150.1 GW in April 2024, according to the EIA. By contrast, many coal plants have retired over the past 25 years, and coal capacity has been roughly cut in half, from 315.1 GW in 2000 to 177.1 GW by April 2024. 22.3 GW of U.S. coal-fired electric generating capacity has been retired over the past two years, and operators plan to retire 2.8 GW more in 2024, data from EIA’s July Monthly Energy Review show.

Other sources of electricity generation have also increased as coal-fired generation has declined, notes the EIA. Since 2000, electricity from solar power has increased by 99.1 GWh, and generation from natural gas, which is often more price competitive than coal in electricity market dispatch, has gone up by 287.6 GWh.

And all good things, they say, never last

Wind power typically produces the most electricity in the springtime in the United States, so it’s not likely wind will permanently remain ahead of coal generation (at least not yet). During the first four months of 2024, coal-fired generation was 15% greater than wind generation in the United States.

You may recall something like this happening last year- when U.S. wind generation exceeded coal-fired generation for the first time in April 2023. It took 11 months later for that to happen again. But if you’re searching for silver linings, this spring marks the first time U.S. wind generation has exceeded coal-fired generation for two months in a row.

And there’s more capacity on the way. Operators expect 7.1 GW of wind capacity to come online in the United States in 2024, according to EIA’s July Monthly Energy Review. That’s a substantial amount, albeit a far cry from the 14 GW+ added in both 2020 and 2021, which were record years for growth in the industry.

And finally- a parting gift for those who either didn’t get the headline or understood the reference and now have that Prince slow jam stuck in their heads: