Cheap renewable energy like wind and solar will further grab the share from fossil fuels in the US energy market, said a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

Accounting for 9% of US power generation, wind and solar will meet up to 30% of the country's electricity demand by 2026, the report proposed.

The Solar Industry Association forecast that from now to 2026, solar installed capacity in the US will increase by more than 21 GW averagely per year with the growth rate peaking at 25 GW by 2023, the report said, adding wind power capacity is predicted to grow to 127.8 GW after newly-added 37.7 GW are commissioned.

With the vigorous installation of wind and solar projects, power generation from fossil fuels has been falling. Coal and natural gas are more like in a zero-sum game, as the increase in one will squeeze the share of another, but generally, their markets shares did not grow. With rapid growth in renewable energy, the proportion of fossil fuels will further slash, according to the report.

In 2020, power generation by rooftop solar system reached 41.7 TWh in the US, up 19% year on year, the International Energy Agency estimated.

As solar power costs continue declining, and the requirements for grid reliability will rise, the rooftop solar system is expected to keep growing in the next few years. Given a conservative year-on-year growth of 15%, it is estimated to produce 100 TWh of power for the US in 2026.

(Writing by Shengnan Liu  Editing by Tammy Yang)
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