Power was produced primarily by coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy at large power plants at central locations and distributed to customers via the electrical grid. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), renewables were responsible for almost 165 GW of new global power capacity in 2016—nearly two-thirds of the global total. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) "Energy Infrastructure Update" (EIU), renewable power sources accounted for half (49.9%) of the 24.6 gigawatts (GW) of new U.S. electrical generating capacity placed into service in 2017. The discrepancy between the 20% installed capacity and 17.6% of generation is attributable to the intermittency of renewable sources. The Revolution AcceleratesBut the first quarter of this year resulted in almost exclusively new renewable capacity.

Source: Forbes May 06, 2018 21:56 UTC