EIA Alters Methodology for Accounting Primary Energy Consumption in Solar, Wind, Hydropower, and Geothermal Electricity Generation

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is revising its methodology to calculate primary energy consumption of electricity generation from various noncombustible renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric power, and geothermal.

British thermal unit is a common unit

The British Thermal Unit (Btu) serves as a standard unit for measuring energy. EIA data collection spans a wide array of energy sources, each often expressed in distinct physical units such as barrels for crude oil and cubic feet for natural gas. To facilitate meaningful comparisons across energy types, these diverse units are converted into the common denominator of Btu.

Fossil fuel equivalency versus direct conversion

For renewable-sourced electricity generation, EIA uses fossil fuel equivalency, and the data is converted from kWh to Btu. The data is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh) to Btu using the average annual heat rate in Btu/kWh of the nation’s fossil fuel-fired power plants (including natural gas, coal, and petroleum). The resulting Btu value represents the equivalent amount of fossil fuels required to generate the same quantity of electricity from non-combustible energy sources.

For the captured energy approach, EIA uses the constant conversion factor of 3,412 Btu/kWh, in contrast to using the average annual heat rate of the nation’s fossil-fuel fired power plants, which varies yearly.

The modification in methodology will have no impact on EIA’s evaluations regarding the contributions of renewable energy sources to electricity generation or any other facets of the energy sector.