EIA: Over 80 GW of Solar, Wind, and Storage Expected on US Grid by February 2027

More than 80 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage capacity is expected to join the US grid in the 12 months ending February 28, 2027, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecast reported in late April 2026. Over the same period, EIA projects total fossil fuel and nuclear capacity to fall by roughly 5 GW — a net swing that lifts renewables toward 36.6% of US utility-scale generating capacity.

What the Forecast Shows

Utility-scale solar accounts for the largest single block of additions at 42,628.6 MW, lifting solar’s share of total US utility-scale capacity from 12.7% to 15.5%. Wind is projected to add 14,507.4 MW, including 4,155.0 MW of new offshore wind, raising its share from 13.1% to 13.6%.

Battery storage shows the steepest growth rate of any category: EIA expects utility-scale battery capacity to climb from 44,630.7 MW to 67,549.6 MW — a 51.4% increase in a single year. These are projected additions drawn from EIA’s monthly inventory of what developers and operators plan to bring online, not capacity already in service.

Why It Matters

The forecast maps where US grid-integration demand is concentrating over the next year. The 51.4% jump in battery storage is the operational headline: it reshapes the resources available for ramping, frequency response, and peak-shaving faster than any other category, and most of that storage is being sited to firm up the simultaneous solar build-out. The 4,155.0 MW of planned offshore wind, though small against onshore totals, would mark a step change for a US offshore sector that has brought only a handful of projects into service to date.

Because these figures are interconnection-and-commissioning targets rather than installed megawatts, they also signal where queue throughput, transformer and inverter supply, and transmission-upgrade pressure will land through 2026 and into early 2027.

Critical Perspective

EIA’s numbers reflect the in-service dates developers have reported, not guaranteed ones. Historically a meaningful share of planned capacity slips past its target month because of interconnection backlogs, supply-chain constraints, and financing gaps. The open question: how much of this 80-plus GW will actually reach commercial operation by February 2027 rather than sliding into late 2027 or beyond — and will the planned 5 GW of fossil and nuclear retirements proceed on schedule if their replacement capacity arrives late?

Sources

• https://electrek.co/2026/04/27/eia-80-gw-of-new-solar-wind-storage-capacity-coming-in-2026/
• https://solarquarter.com/2026/04/27/u-s-energy-information-administration-projects-80-gw-surge-in-solar-wind-and-storage-by-2027/

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