The US reached a cumulative concentrated solar power (CSP) capacity of 1,435 MW at end-March 2014, thanks to the wrap-up of 517 MW of projects in the first quarter.
Overall, 2014 is expected to be the best year for CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) capacity additions in the US, according to the US Solar Market Insight published today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research. The partners expect to see 340 MW of additional CSP capacity come online by the end of this year.
One of the CSP parks that kicked off operations in the first quarter is the 392-MW Ivanpah plant in California -- a partnership of US utility NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and BrightSource Energy Inc. The other newly launched facility is the second 125-MW phase of NextEra Energy Inc’s (NYSE:NEE) Genesis solar park.
The US installed total alternating current (AC) solar capacity of 1,571 MW in January-March 2014, which equals 74% of all new power generating capacity for the country. The solar figure includes the 517 MW of CSP and around 1,054 MW of photovoltaics (PV).