The EIA recently published the full year electricity data for the US for 2024. You might find the following information interesting…
Below is the installed capacity for solar and wind power in the US, as of December 2024, and the installed nuclear power capacity.
Installed Capacity, megawatts Utility-scale solar PV 121,176 MW Utility-scale solar thermal 1,392 Small-scale solar PV 53,342 Wind power 152,711 ----------------- -------- Total solar + wind 328,621 MW In contrast... Nuclear power capacity 96,771 MW
Combined solar plus wind power capacity is more than 3 times that of nuclear capacity. Does that mean solar and wind combined produce 3 times more electricity than nuclear? Nope.
Actual generation, gigawatt-hours Utility-scale solar PV 215,416 GWh Utility-scale solar thermal 3,121 Small-scale solar PV 84,630 Wind power 453,454 ------------------ --------- Total solar + wind 756,621 GWh Nuclear 781,979 GWh
Generation data from here, and here.
Nuclear power is only 30% the size of solar and wind combined, but nuclear plants produce more electricity.
_ Pete