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Written by Jesse Broehl for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. saw 4,497 megawatts (MW) of new utility and commercial-scale electricity generation installed in first-quarter 2025, according to IIR Energy's tracking of power plants in the U.S.
Solar Continues its Dominant Market Share
Some current trends continue to be represented in the aggregate data, including the vast percentage of new power commissioned coming from solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, with 3,375 MW or more than 75%.
Wind followed in a distant second place with 517 MW, and was nearly exceeded by 507 MW of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) plants, all of which were connected to some of the new solar PV plants.
Some remarkably large solar plants went online in the quarter, with total capacity of 3,375 MW from just 30 plants, and six of the plants at or exceeding 200 MW in nameplate capacity.
The largest plant is the 300-MW Desert Quartzite plant in California. It is notable not only for its size (4,800 acres), but that it is developed and owned by First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona), the largest U.S.-based solar PV manufacturer. First Solar specializes in thin-film cadmium telluride modules, which is a distinct technology from most other crystalline solar PV module manufacturers. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.
ENGIE S.A.'s (Paris, France) 260.1-MW Tulsita PV Solar Plant in Goliad, Texas, was the second largest, followed by the 204.47-MW Estonian PV Solar plant in Cooper, Texas, owned by Enel SpA (Rome, Italy), and 200-MW plants owned by Invenergy LLC (Chicago, Illinois), Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia) and Gardner Company (Salt Lake City, Utah). Subscribers can click here for the Tulsita plant profile and click here for the Estonian plant profile.
Click on the image at right for a graph showing commissioned power plant capacity by fuel type.
Modest Wind Power Installations
By capacity market share, wind power followed solar with 517 MW installed in two Wyoming plants, both owned by NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida): the 124-MW Anticline Wind and 392.8 MW added to the larger multi-phase Cedar Springs wind plant, which has been in operation since 2020. Total capacity at Cedar Springs is now 927.72 MW.
No offshore wind capacity was commissioned, although two offshore wind plants are in construction. Overall, however, offshore wind development in the U.S. is expected to largely go into a pause period since the Trump administration has been explicit about stopping offshore wind and has made good on its aims with a series of actions to delay or entirely derail the industry in the U.S.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
The deployment of BESS continues to grow with 507 MW in total installed in the first quarter, split between the following solar plants and respective BESS capacity: Bakeoven Solar LLC (Maupin, Oregon), 100 MW; Darien Solar Energy Center (Darien, Wisconsin), 75 MW; Desert Quartzite LLC, 230 MW and Estonian Solar Project LLC, 102.5 MW.
Click on the image at right for power plant MW capacity by the top 15 parent companies.
Modest Natural Gas at Utility Scale
A small amount of utility-scale natural gas went online in the quarter, with 94 MW added as part of a 112-MW expansion of peak generating capacity at the Pioneer Generating Peaking Station in Williston, North Dakota. This is an existing plant owned by Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Bismark, North Dakota) that has been in operation since 2016 and will have a total capacity of 830.8 MW once the latest expansion is complete as expected in the second quarter of this year. The expansion adds 12 Wartsila 20V34SG model engines plus balance-of-plant equipment to supply power to the grid during peak demand. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
Natural Gas Plants for Onsite Power in Oil, Gas and LNG
One notable addition of natural gas power plant generation added in the quarter was entirely for onsite power for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Venture Global LNG (NYSE:VG) (Arlington, Virginia) commissioned an additional 360 MW for onsite power at its new Plaquemines LNG processing and export plant in Louisiana. This will bring the facility's onsite generation to 1,420 MW total. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
Likewise, in the oil and gas sector, Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) added 28 MW of onsite gas generation to power operations at its AC-772 Whale Semi-Submersible floating platform unit in the Gulf of Mexico (designated as the Gulf of America by the Trump administration). Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Oil & Gas Production Plant Database can click here for the Whale plant profile.
Click on the image at right for a graph showing newly installed power capacity in the top 15 states.
Data Centers Add Significant Backup Generation Capacity
A total of 327 MW was installed in the first quarter for onsite back-up generation at data centers, which are one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S. and are notoriously energy intensive and require back-up generation.
Amazon.com Incorporated (NASDAQ:AMZN) (Seattle, Washington) led the capacity with 166 MW brought online in two data centers, one at its Boardman Data Center in Boardman, Oregon, and a second at its Herndon Data Center in Herndon, Virginia. Both facilities use Caterpillar 3500 Series fuel oil internal combustion engines.
The Temple Green Moriah Hyperscale Data Center located in Temple, Texas, had 99 MW commissioned in the quarter for onsite back-up generation. The data center is owned by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (Houston, Texas) and Rowan Digital Infrastructure Limited.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) (Redmond, Washington) commissioned 62 MW of onsite back up generation at its Timber Datacenter in Boydton, Virginia, which uses Caterpillar C175-16 units.
Click on the image at right for a graph showing data center power capacity by the top three owners.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
Solar Continues its Dominant Market Share
Some current trends continue to be represented in the aggregate data, including the vast percentage of new power commissioned coming from solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, with 3,375 MW or more than 75%.
Wind followed in a distant second place with 517 MW, and was nearly exceeded by 507 MW of new battery energy storage systems (BESS) plants, all of which were connected to some of the new solar PV plants.
Some remarkably large solar plants went online in the quarter, with total capacity of 3,375 MW from just 30 plants, and six of the plants at or exceeding 200 MW in nameplate capacity.
The largest plant is the 300-MW Desert Quartzite plant in California. It is notable not only for its size (4,800 acres), but that it is developed and owned by First Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:FSLR) (Tempe, Arizona), the largest U.S.-based solar PV manufacturer. First Solar specializes in thin-film cadmium telluride modules, which is a distinct technology from most other crystalline solar PV module manufacturers. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Plant Database can click here for the plant profile.
ENGIE S.A.'s (Paris, France) 260.1-MW Tulsita PV Solar Plant in Goliad, Texas, was the second largest, followed by the 204.47-MW Estonian PV Solar plant in Cooper, Texas, owned by Enel SpA (Rome, Italy), and 200-MW plants owned by Invenergy LLC (Chicago, Illinois), Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia) and Gardner Company (Salt Lake City, Utah). Subscribers can click here for the Tulsita plant profile and click here for the Estonian plant profile.
Modest Wind Power Installations
By capacity market share, wind power followed solar with 517 MW installed in two Wyoming plants, both owned by NextEra Energy Incorporated (NYSE:NEE) (Juno Beach, Florida): the 124-MW Anticline Wind and 392.8 MW added to the larger multi-phase Cedar Springs wind plant, which has been in operation since 2020. Total capacity at Cedar Springs is now 927.72 MW.
- Anticline uses all GE Vernova turbines in the following various units. The model names denote MW / Rotor Diameter: 3.4-140 (31 units), 2.52-116 (2 units), 2.82-127 (3 units), 2.72-116 (2 units). Click here for the plant profile.
- The recent additions to Cedar Springs all use GE Vernova wind turbines: 6.1-158 (57 units), 2.82-127 (16 units). Click here for the plant profile.
No offshore wind capacity was commissioned, although two offshore wind plants are in construction. Overall, however, offshore wind development in the U.S. is expected to largely go into a pause period since the Trump administration has been explicit about stopping offshore wind and has made good on its aims with a series of actions to delay or entirely derail the industry in the U.S.
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
The deployment of BESS continues to grow with 507 MW in total installed in the first quarter, split between the following solar plants and respective BESS capacity: Bakeoven Solar LLC (Maupin, Oregon), 100 MW; Darien Solar Energy Center (Darien, Wisconsin), 75 MW; Desert Quartzite LLC, 230 MW and Estonian Solar Project LLC, 102.5 MW.
Modest Natural Gas at Utility Scale
A small amount of utility-scale natural gas went online in the quarter, with 94 MW added as part of a 112-MW expansion of peak generating capacity at the Pioneer Generating Peaking Station in Williston, North Dakota. This is an existing plant owned by Basin Electric Power Cooperative (Bismark, North Dakota) that has been in operation since 2016 and will have a total capacity of 830.8 MW once the latest expansion is complete as expected in the second quarter of this year. The expansion adds 12 Wartsila 20V34SG model engines plus balance-of-plant equipment to supply power to the grid during peak demand. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
Natural Gas Plants for Onsite Power in Oil, Gas and LNG
One notable addition of natural gas power plant generation added in the quarter was entirely for onsite power for liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. Venture Global LNG (NYSE:VG) (Arlington, Virginia) commissioned an additional 360 MW for onsite power at its new Plaquemines LNG processing and export plant in Louisiana. This will bring the facility's onsite generation to 1,420 MW total. Subscribers can click here for the plant profile.
Likewise, in the oil and gas sector, Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) added 28 MW of onsite gas generation to power operations at its AC-772 Whale Semi-Submersible floating platform unit in the Gulf of Mexico (designated as the Gulf of America by the Trump administration). Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Oil & Gas Production Plant Database can click here for the Whale plant profile.
Data Centers Add Significant Backup Generation Capacity
A total of 327 MW was installed in the first quarter for onsite back-up generation at data centers, which are one of the fastest growing sectors in the U.S. and are notoriously energy intensive and require back-up generation.
Amazon.com Incorporated (NASDAQ:AMZN) (Seattle, Washington) led the capacity with 166 MW brought online in two data centers, one at its Boardman Data Center in Boardman, Oregon, and a second at its Herndon Data Center in Herndon, Virginia. Both facilities use Caterpillar 3500 Series fuel oil internal combustion engines.
The Temple Green Moriah Hyperscale Data Center located in Temple, Texas, had 99 MW commissioned in the quarter for onsite back-up generation. The data center is owned by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (Houston, Texas) and Rowan Digital Infrastructure Limited.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) (Redmond, Washington) commissioned 62 MW of onsite back up generation at its Timber Datacenter in Boydton, Virginia, which uses Caterpillar C175-16 units.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
