KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 25): Renewable energy sources (including wind, hydroelectric, solar, biomass and geothermal energy) generated a record 834 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity or about 21% of all the electricity generated in the US in 2020.

Only natural gas (1,617 billion kWh) produced more electricity than renewables in the US in 2020.

In a statement on its website on Thursday (Dec 23), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said renewables surpassed both nuclear (790 billion kWh) and coal (774 billion kWh) for the first time on record.

It said this outcome in 2020 was due mostly to significantly less coal use in US electricity generation and steadily increased use of wind and solar.

The EIA said that in 2020, US electricity generation from coal in all sectors declined 20% from 2019, while renewables, including small-scale solar, increased 9%.

It said wind, currently the most prevalent source of renewable electricity in the US, grew 14% in 2020 from 2019.

Utility-scale solar generation (from projects greater than one megawatt) increased 26%, and small-scale solar, such as grid-connected rooftop solar panels, increased 19%.

The EIA said coal-fired electricity generation in the US peaked at 2,016 billion kWh in 2007 and much of that capacity was replaced by or converted into natural gas-fired generation since then.

It said coal was the largest source of electricity in the US until 2016, and 2020 was the first year that more electricity was generated by renewables and by nuclear power than by coal (according to the EIA's data series that dates back to 1949).

Meanwhile, nuclear electric power declined 2% from 2019 to 2020 because several nuclear power plants retired and other nuclear plants experienced slightly more maintenance-related outages.

The EIA expects coal-fired electricity generation to have increased in the US during 2021 as natural gas prices continued to rise and as coal became more economically competitive.

“Based on forecasts in our Short-Term Energy Outlook, we expect coal-fired electricity generation in all sectors in 2021 to have increased 18% from 2020 levels before falling 2% in 2022.

“We expect US renewable generation across all sectors to have increased 7% in 2021 and 10% in 2022.

“As a result, we forecast coal to be the second-most prevalent electricity source in 2021, while renewables will be the second-most prevalent source in 2022.

“We expect nuclear electric power to decline 2% in 2021 and 3% in 2022 as operators retire several generators,” it said.