[99.7%]

Solar (PV) power generation is rapidly expanding in the United States, and it is overwhelming other power sources in the speed of expansion.

The U.S. power generation market is undergoing major changes due to reasons such as IRA effects, solar panel price cuts, ESS price cuts that complement intermittence, and increased natural gas price fluctuations (increasing renewable energy generation revenue).

• Solar power accounted for 99.7% of newly installed plants in the U.S. in March this year. (PV 2833 MW out of 2,841 MW total)
• In the first quarter of this year, 6497 MW of solar power was newly installed in the U.S., and 928 MW of wind power was newly installed, a difference of seven times. (The total number of new installed generators in the first quarter was 7486 MW, of which 7425 MW was renewable energy, accounting for 99.2 percent.)
• In the first quarter of 2023, the new PV installation capacity in the United States was 2774 MW, which increased 2.3 times over the same period in a year.
• Currently, the total U.S. power generation capacity is 1288 GW, of which 106 GW of PV will be installed, but an additional 215 GW of PV will be installed over the next three years.
• Currently, the capacity of PV power generation projects applied for system access is more than 1000 GW.

Looking at the prospect of expansion over the next three years, there are no carbon-free generators competing with PV in the U.S. market for the time being, except for wind power.

• Wind power: 74 GW (34% of PV expansion)
• Geothermal: 0.5 GW (0.2% of PV expansion)
• Nuclear power: 1.1 GW (0.5% of PV expansion)

It is not a Chinese story. It is a story of the U.S., a market economy. It will take about 10 years for a new nuclear power generator to operate in the U.S. In the meantime, 500 GW to 1500 GW of PV power plants will be installed. In addition, 1,000 to 3,000 GWh of ESS will be installed to supplement this. Considering that Korea’s total power generation capacity is less than 150 GW, it is a huge scale.

It’s a pity that major media outlets are only ordering the revival of the nuclear supply chain when such a huge market was created in an alliance that has signed an FTA with us. The nuclear supply chain should be revived to export nuclear power plants to Eastern Europe. At the same time, we need to revive the solar supply chain, the wind supply chain, and the ESS supply chain to sell our products to that huge U.S. market.

These days, Korean heavy and electric companies such as LS Electric, Hyundai Electric, and Hyosung have seen their stock prices rise more than ten times in two years, and their performance has improved. This is because the paradigm of the electricity grid and power generation facility market changes in the United States, and large-scale investments are underway. In the long run, China, which is competing for supremacy, cannot last long in the US electricity grid and power generation facility market. Furthermore, the US-China conflict is intensifying, and it will get even worse if Trump returns to power. There are already rumors that the tariff rate on Chinese-made PV panels has been raised from 25% to 50%, and that it will be raised to 100%. It is not too late. What excuse will we make to seniors who have achieved industrialization through sweat and tears if they miss this huge market?

(Data Source: FERC)