© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Solar panels are arrayed on Earth Day in Northfield, Massachusetts, U.S., April 22, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
(Reuters) – Power plant developers in the United States added less than half of the planned solar photovoltaic capacity in the half first of 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
Over the first six months of 2022, 4.2 gigawatts (GW) of the planned capacity came online, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy said in a report, adding that developers plan to install 17.8 GW of utility-scale solar photovoltaic generating capacity in 2022.
Preliminary data showed that photovoltaic solar installations from January to June were delayed by an average of 4.4 GW each month, compared with average monthly delays of 2.6 GW during the same period last year.
Factors that could cause delays include supply chain constraints, labor shortages, and high prices of components, the EIA added.
The report comes as the U.S. Senate this month passed a sweeping $430 billion bill intended to fight climate change, lower drug prices and raise some corporate taxes.
In July, the Biden administration said it would pour $56 million into programs aimed at spurring domestic manufacturing of solar energy products as the United States seeks to move its clean energy sector away from a dependence on Chinese-made goods.
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