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Power and Energy Training: Sometimes the most important news is found in statistics rather than headlines.

At some point in 2019, wind will reach a significant milestone by topping hydroelectric power as the top renewable power source. At the end of 2018, the U.S. generated over 96,000 megawatts of installed wind power, up from 83,000 megawatts the year before. By the end of 2019, 107,000 megawatts of installed wind power should be generated.

Solar energy usage is growing even faster than wind. Both solar and wind combined will likely account for 11 percent of the total U.S. power before 2020.

By comparison, coal power is expected to drop to 23% by 2020, down from 39% as recently as 2014. 

Once thought of as an interesting aside when discussing energy sources, renewable energy is now a mainstay and more. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that 40 percent of the planet’s energy will be renewable by 2040.

Perhaps the greatest litmus test of renewable energy’s viability is its backing by big business – something that was hard to come by just 15 years ago.

A report by Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) found that 71 of the Fortune 100 companies have renewable energy or sustainability targets, up from 60 companies just a few years ago.

Of the Fortune 500 companies, AEE has reported that 22 have committed to powering all of their operations with renewable energy.

All told, it’s a rapidly changing power and energy landscape – not just in the renewables sector, but in all areas including the conversion of North America’s 150-year-old power grid to a two-way Smart Grid.

The dropping of renewable energy infrastructure costs, and the amazing technological advances such as machine learning, 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT) and aritificial intelligence (AI) is changing the way energy will be produced and distributed.

Of course, the power and energy revolution presents meaningful challenges for systems engineers and everyone else who has a vested interest in this sector – even if it’s just keeping up.

Tonex can help. Tonex offers over two dozen Power and Energy courses that cover all contemporary topics from microgrid certification to Offshore Wind Farming.

For more information, questions, comments, contact us.

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