Nearly 50 GW of new renewable capacity installed in 2024 ‘shatters records’

A report from American Clean Power Association says the U.S. saw “a remarkable 33% increase over the previous record of 37 GW set in 2023.”

March 6, 2025 Rachel Metea

Image: Department of Energy, Chris Gellentien

Renewable energy “shattered records” in 2024, adding 49 GW of new capacity in the U.S., a new report from American Clean Power Association said. This accounted for 93% of the country’s total new installed capacity.

“It took more than 20 years for the U.S. to install the first 100 GW of clean power, five years to install the first 100 GW and three years to install the most recent 100 GW,” the report said.

The additional capacity is “a remarkable 33% increase over the previous record of 37 GW set in 2023,” ACP said. “This dramatic acceleration reflects the industry’s extraordinary momentum.”

The fourth quarter was the strongest quarter on record for solar installs, ACP said, with nearly 14 GW of utility-scale solar commissioned in the fourth quarter. Additionally, solar capacity surged quarter-over-quarter, with Q4 installations more than twice the 6 GW installed in the prior quarter.

For overall clean-power installations, the fourth quarter of 2024 was the second-largest quarter on record, with developers connecting 18.9 GW of solar, wind and energy storage capacity, the report said. Accounting for 39% of the year’s installations, the fourth-quarter installations fell in line with annual trends, which historically see the highest quarterly installations for a given year.

Red states saw some of the fastest growth in renewable power capacity in 2024, the report said, with Mississippi, Louisiana and Kentucky increasing cumulative operational capacity by more than 200% year-over-year.

Republican-held districts, the report said, were home to 77% of clean power capacity added to the grid in 2024.

Texas installed the most renewable energy capacity of any state during Q4, continuing a decade-long streak as being the top fourth-quarter installer for renewable energy. The Lone Star state also ranked first for quarterly installs of utility-scale solar, building on its recent lead as the top state for solar. Highlighting the industry’s growth in the state, eight solar companies commissioned component manufacturing facilities for clean-energy projects, the most of any other state.

(Read: There will be sun: Texas’ $50 billion solar land boom)

Along with Texas, California, Illinois and Florida each added more than 1 GW of renewable energy to the grid in Q4. Ohio, Arkansas, New Mexico, Virginia, Indiana and Iowa each added more than 500 MW. Illinois and Florida’s renewable growth during the year led the states to enter the list of states with more than 10 GW of clean power in operation, joining Texas, California, Iowa and Oklahoma.

Across the year, 46 U.S. primary component manufacturing projects across the utility-scale solar, wind and storage supply chains came online in 2024, the report said. Commissioned across 20 states, these projects provided $22 billion in direct capital investments.

Of the newly commissioned project projects, 85% were in states that voted Republican in the recent presidential election, the report said.

“Reliable energy depends on reliable policy,” Jason Grument, ACP’s CEO said. “Our nation’s economic growth and digital dominance require aggressive pursuit of a true all of the above energy strategy.”

The snapshot is a preview of ACPA’s upcoming Clean Power Annual Market Report, set to be released next month. Download the report here.

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