US solar market off to hot start in 2021

The U.S. solar market got off to a hot start in 2021, adding 2,827 MW of utility-scale capacity in the first quarter, a 36% increase from the same period in 2020.

The U.S. now has 51,966 MW of utility-scale solar power capacity, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, which excludes residential systems. The data show that the U.S. has a project pipeline through 2025 of 110,903 MW of solar projects. Of that, 15,279 MW are under construction. The majority of the capacity, 78,566 MW, is in early development.

Texas has the highest amount of solar power capacity in advanced development or under construction, at 6,583 MW. North Carolina has 2,662 MW of such projects, followed by California at 2,275 MW, the data show.

In Florida, NextEra Energy Inc. utility subsidiary Florida Power & Light Co. continues its building spree under its SolarTogether program, a community solar model wherein customers subsidize solar projects across the state through a subscription program. FPL plans to build a total of 1,490 MW of utility-scale solar capacity under the program. In the first quarter, it completed eight 75-MW solar plants across the state.

"This plan is consistent with our belief that renewable generation and particularly solar, paired with battery storage in Florida, is an increasingly cost-effective form of generation," Rebecca Kujawa, NextEra's CFO and executive vice president of finance, said during the company's first quarter 2021 earnings call.

The Permian Basin in Texas is home to the largest solar projects completed in the quarter. Transmission providers have been busy building more infrastructure in the area to keep up with demand from oil and gas drillers, which have turned to renewable energy to power operations. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners K/S completed its 255-MW Greasewood Solar Project (Concho Bluff) in Pecos County, Texas, whose output is contracted to several municipal utilities. 7X Energy Inc. completed a 255-MW portion of its Taygete Energy Project in Pecos County. The developer is also working on a second 255-MW phase of the project, Taygete Energy Project II.

Developers completed two additional projects for Texas' red-hot solar market: Engie SA's 200-MW Anson Solar Center in Jones County, and BP PLC's 199-MW Impact Solar Project (G.S.E. Twelve) in Lamar County. The British oil and gas giant has been keen on the Texas market as it diversifies from fossil fuels.

The Impact project was developed with BP's joint solar venture, Lightsource BP Renewable Energy Investments Ltd., which grew its solar development pipeline worldwide by 3 GW in 2020, and by an additional 1.4 GW in the first quarter of 2021, BP CEO Bernard Looney said at the company's annual meeting on May 12.

"The solar joint venture that we have, Lightsource BP, is growing at an incredible pace," Looney said. On June 1, the company announced its acquisition of a roughly 9-GW pipeline of solar developments from 7X Energy.

And BP is not the only fossil fuel company working on solar projects this year. Koch Industries Inc. in the first quarter announced its 30-MW Rosemount Solar Farm, an oil refinery in Dakota County, Minn.

Minnesota has the largest amount of capacity announced in the quarter, with 490 MW of proposed solar farms. Xcel Energy Inc. announced intentions to build the largest solar project in the state, the $598 million, 460-MW Sherco Solar Project(Becker Solar Plant). The project will be built at the site of the coal-fired 2,238-MW Sherburne County Plant (Sherco). Xcel Energy plans to retire its coal fleet in the state by 2030.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. spurred the development of solar resources in Indiana, announcing plans in February to acquire a 300-MW facility, the Posey County Solar Project, and to contract for 100 MW from a 200-MW facility to be built.

NextEra Energy is the largest owner of planned solar installations in the U.S. between 2021 and 2025. It has a pipeline of 9,834 MW of projects, the majority of which, 6,806 MW, are in early development, as it plans to ramp up its clean energy development. Invenergy LLC has the second-largest project pipeline, 7,889 MW, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. And it has the largest pipeline of projects under construction, 1,720 MW.