Energy Storage System--US adds 68 MW of large-scale solar capacity in August

Twelve solar power plants with a combined capacity of 68 MW were connected to the grid in the US in August 2014, up from 21 MW in July and down considerably from 578 MW in August 2013.

According to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) August Energy Infrastructure Update, the US added 1,510 MW of new large-scale solar capacity in the first 8 months of this year, almost the same amount the country installed in the same period of 2013, when 1,511 MW were connected to the grid. The US had 9.55 GW of installed utility-scale solar generating capacity as of the end of August. This amounted to 0.82% of total installed US operating generating capacity, up from 0.75% at the end of the previous month.

During the month of August, OCI Solar completed the 42 MW OCI Alamo 4 Solar project in Kinney County, Texas, while Strata Solar connected 23.4 MW of PV projects in North Carolina. Among the other projects energized in August were two SunEdison projects in California totaling 3.4 MW and a 1.8 MW solar facility in Bristol County, Massachusetts.