EIA report says natural gas will grow as source of electricity generation

Natural gas is projected to remain the leading source of electricity generation in the United States through 2050, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2019.

Natural gas surpassed coal in 2016 as the fuel most used to generate electricity. In 2018, natural gas accounted for 34 percent of total electricity generation and EIA expects that to grow to 40 percent by 2032 and remain around that 40 percent range through 2050.

The EIA report also expects that renewable energy will surpass nuclear as a source of electricity generation by 2020 and surpasses coal by the mid-2020s. It states that tax credits and lower capital costs will continue to drive solar photovoltaic and wind capacity additions.

The Annual Energy Outlook adds that the share of natural gas share electricity generation depends on natural gas prices. Low natural gas prices lead to the construction of more natural gas power plants.

As more existing coal-fired and nuclear-powered generation capacity is retired, natural gas-fired plants will be the leading source of new capacity additions, exceeding the construction of renewable facilities. The report says almost half of the current nuclear power plant fleet will be retired by 2050.

Coal-fired electricity generation plants will have fewer retirements and higher utilization rates than nuclear. Solar and wind will provide 22 percent and 13 percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2050, respectively.