US green energy sector aims for majority share by 2030

Four US clean energy sectors have unveiled a plan for renewables to account for the majority of the country’s electricity output by 2030.

by Nadia Weekes 4 June 2020

The CEOs of the American wind, solar, hyropower and energy storage industries vowed to work together to meet this goal at their inagural Cleanpower 2020 event - held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the groups’ blueprint, wind and solar would each account for 20% of US electricity by 2030 - up from 7% and 3% respectively in 2019.

Hydropower’s share of electricity generation would rise from 7% in 2019 to 9% by 2030, while the US energy storage fleet would grow from 24GW to 105GW in this period.

In a joint statement, the leaders of the four industry associations called for a more resilient and efficient grid, carbon reductions and greater competition through fairer market rules.

“Demand is growing for integrated renewable energy options,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). “These sectors will continue growing and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.”