U.S. natural gas is facing competition from solar and wind energy

     The hourly grid monitoring report of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that in the first half of 2020, natural gas-fueled solar generator price power generation increased by 9% year-on-year.

    It is the fastest growing source of power generation in the 48 states in the United States. This increase is the result of recent low prices and increased natural gas power generation capacity, although total power generation fell by 5% due to reduced commercial activities related to epidemic mitigation measures.

    Coal-fired power generation suffered heavy losses in the first half of this year, with power generation down 30% year-on-year. Due to the low price of natural gas, coal-fired power generation is not economical compared to natural gas in most areas. The price of natural gas dropped from an average of US$2.74 per million British heat in the first half of 2019 to an average of US$1.81 per million British heat in the first half of this year.

    EIA pointed out that natural gas power generation is facing increasing competition from solar and wind energy. Since 2018, the newly added solar and wind power generation capacity is approximately 23,200 MW. Renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and hydropower, grew by about 5%, making it the only source of fuel growth other than natural gas in 2020.