Developers added 12 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale solar electric generating capacity in the US during the first half of 2025, and they plan to add another 21GW in the second half of the year, according to our latest survey of electric generating capacity changes.

 

If those plans are realised, solar would account for more than half of the 64GW that developers plan to bring online this year. Battery storage, wind, and natural gas power plants account for virtually all of the remaining capacity additions for 2025, the survey said.

 

Developers could set a record for capacity additions if all 6 GW come online this year. The previous record for US generating capacity additions was set in 2002, when developers added 58GW to the grid, 57GW of which was fueled by natural gas. Although developers have added natural gas-fired capacity each year since then, other technologies such as wind, solar, and battery storage have become more prevalent options for new capacity.

 

"If planned capacity additions for solar photovoltaic and battery storage capacities are realised, both technologies will add more capacity than in any previous year. For both technologies, this growth is largely attributable to changes occurring in Texas," it said.

 

About 27% (3.2GW) of the solar capacity added so far in 2025 is in Texas, and developers plan to bring another 9.7GW of solar online in Texas in the second half of this year. Last year, Texas surpassed California as the state with the most utility-scale solar capacity.

 

Battery storage accounted for the second-largest share of capacity additions in the first half of the year, at 26% (5.9 GW), about half of which was in Arizona or California. Developers in Texas are expecting to bring 7.0 GW of battery storage capacity online in 2025, with much of that capacity coming online in the second half of the year. -OGN/TradeArabia News Service