2020 – 2021 US Bioenergy Forecasts in from EIA
The US Energy Information Administration’s latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) predicts increasing electricity generation from renewable energy sources in 2020 and 2021. Power from renewable sources is anticipated to rise from 17 per cent in 2019 to 20 per cent by the end of 2020, before advancing another 2 per cent to 22 per cent in 2021. Biomass is expected to generate slightly less energy in the electric power sector this year, down 2.4 per cent from 28.8 billion kWh in 2019 to an estimated 28.1 billion kWh in 2020.
According to the STEO, biomass generation capacity in the electric power sector is anticipated to decrease 0.6 per cent from 6,672 MW in 2019 to 6,628 MW in 2020. For 2021, biomass generation capacity is forecast to rise slightly to 6,638 MW. In the electric power sector, the proportion of biomass power generation is split roughly 45:55 between wood biomass capacity and waste biomass capacity.
Across other sectors, biomass power capacity is expected to inch up from 6,424 MW in 2019 to 6,428 MW in 2020 and remain steady into 2021. In other sectors, the proportion of biomass power generated by wood biomass capacity and waste biomass capacity is approximately 85 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. The full STEO report can be found here.
