Energy Profile - U.S.

"The Land of Opportunity"

(Population: 338 mi; GDP: US$25.46 tri; primary energy consumption: 2,182 Mtoe; electricity consumption: 4,050 TWh; installed capacity: 1,160 GW; energy self-sufficiency: 106%)

Energy in the U.S. is drawn from a diverse portfolio of sources, the majority coming from fossil fuels, with emphasis on natural gas (NG).  Most NG production growth comes from shale gas & tight oil plays.  Figure 1 shows the U.S. primary energy consumption in 2021.

The outlook for new-build NG gen in the U.S. has dimmed considerably in recent years.  Looking forward to the 2023-2027 period, that drop is expected to continue.  Over the next five years, new-build NG gen are scheduled to account for only 5% of all new power plants scheduled to be built.  Last year, that percentage was about 11%, and five years ago, 41%.

Clean energy will dominate new U.S. power plant capacity added in 2023: solar, the star of the show, wind, battery storage, and nuclear make up 84% of utility-scale generating capacity planned to come online this year (Figure 2).  Fossil-fueled plants are expected to make up just 16% of new capacity additions completed in 2023.

Solar plants don’t produce around the clock like NG or nuclear.  Such limitation is driving the surge in battery installations to store surplus solar production for later use, when it is more valuable.