Biden's Solar Energy Plan Has A Major Space Problem

Rystad Energy estimates that the significant utility solar PV installed capacity required to meet the target would occupy around 13,412 square miles of land, equivalent to 0.43% of the total land area in the lower 48 states, or roughly 50 times the size of Austin, Texas.

Land scarcity is often cited as a key barrier to ramping up solar and wind energy capacity in the US, thus undermining the country's revitalized decarbonization ambitions for the next 30 years.

"Although building all these solar farms is no easy task, with the right choice of unoccupied land and with sufficient investments in infrastructure, it can be done. Not every state is a good fit for large-scale solar plants, but certain southern states could take on larger gigawatts-scale projects than others," says Felix Tan, senior analyst at Rystad Energy.

The operational utility solar PV capacity in the US as of February 2021, according to Rystad Energy's RenewableCube, is only about 48.8 GW, which covers merely 654 square miles of land.

The ramp-up in storage and transmission will only lead to more and larger utility scale solar PV projects in the US. The 600 MW Topaz solar farm in California, which came online in 2013 and 2014, currently ranks as the largest plant in the country.

The next four years could see the ceiling smashed as various phased projects become operational, including the Samson Solar Energy Center in Texas and the Edwards & Sanborn Solar project in California - both of which will breach the gigawatt mark.

"Bearing in mind that the Biden Administration is also planning a major expansion of transmission networks across the country, the scene is set for gigawatt-scale solar PV projects to be launched. We expect more gigawatt-scale solar PV projects to follow, including hybrid developments," Tan concludes.

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