The Sun Day Campaign, a renewable energy advocacy group, reports that the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) latest infrastructure update shows that solar, biomass and wind sources provided 694 MW of new electrical generating capacity in October, representing 99.3% of all new generation placed in service.
Twelve new solar units accounted for 504 MW or 72.1% of all new electrical generating capacity in October, followed by four biomass units providing 124 MW or 17.7% and two wind units contributing 66 MW or 9.4%.
According to Sun Day, renewable energy sources have accounted for 32.8% of all new electrical generating capacity for the first 10 months of 2013. This exceeds the total from coal's 12.5% and oil's 0.3% combined.
Solar accounts for 20.5% of new generating capacity, with 2.53 GW added for the year through October, more than doubling the 1.26 GW total over the corresponding period last year. However, natural gas has dominated the first 10 months of the year with 6.63 GW added, representing 53.7% of new capacity, Sun Day reports.
