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Energy Plan 2030: Why Solar Will Win the Next Decade of Grid Readiness 

October 13, 2025

 By: Shelby Barbier, CEO, and Amanda Price, Director of Revenue Operations 

The energy plan for 2030 is taking shape—and it’s clear that solar will anchor the next decade of grid readiness. Incentives may accelerate and taper, but the demand curve isn’t flattening. It’s steepening. 

 While earlier projections have ranged as high as 500 GWdc by 2030, the most recent SEIA / Wood Mackenzie forecast now suggests 199 GWdc of utility-scale solar additions from 2025 to 2030. 

SEIA also projects an average installation rate of ~43 GWdc per year through 2030. 

The higher forecasts (e.g. 502 GW) tend to include distributed solar and assume accelerated policy tailwinds; they are useful as upside scenarios, but not the central baseline. 

As the accelerated Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and safe-harbor provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) begin to sunset, the sector is shifting from a policy-driven sprint to an infrastructure-driven marathon. And that’s exactly where Cinterra has always operated—building what endures, not what’s incentivized. 

The Scale of What’s Coming 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that solar will account for over 60% of all new electric-generation capacity added through 2030.  Annual build rates are forecasted to average 40–60 GWdc, while: 

  • Wind additions will average 6–8 GW per year 
  • Battery storage will add 20–25 GW per year but contributes no net generation 
  •  Natural gas buildout will remain under 10 GW per year, limited by emissions exposure, permitting complexity, and the compounding effects of supply chain challenges — from turbine component sourcing and steel pricing volatility to labor availability and interconnection materials that remain backlogged across multiple regions.Sources: SEIA/Wood Mackenzie 2025; EIA Annual Energy Outlook 2025; NREL Solar Futures Study 2024 

The result is a widening gap in which solar is the only scalable, rapidly deployable option for meeting load growth from AI data centers, manufacturing expansion, and utility modernization. 

Projected U.S. Capacity Additions by Energy SourceDownload

Why Solar Will Win 

Solar wins because it’s modular, repeatable, and adaptable to the grid’s needs. 
It scales faster than any other resource—and when paired with energy storage and substation flexibility, it becomes the backbone of reliability. 

Other resources can’t respond at the same pace: 

  • Natural gas requires 5–7 years for siting and environmental approval 
  • Wind is constrained by geography and land use 
  • Hydro and nuclear are limited by capital intensity and long lead times 
  • Demand-response programs help but cannot offset nationwide growth alone 

Solar construction—especially when delivered through a diversified, self-performing contractor model—fills that gap with consistency, speed, and cost predictability. 

Cinterra: Ready Before the Shift 

Cinterra was built to meet this exact moment. We’re a turnkey diversified energy contractor, uniting multiple disciplines under one roof to simplify delivery for developers and EPCs. 

Our model removes friction and overlap: 

  • One contract instead of four 
  • One point of accountability 
  • One culture of safety, scheduling discipline, and workforce quality. Every project benefit from the same integrated field teams who handle electrical, mechanical, and site scopes with precision and consistency. We’ve invested years building capacity, supply chain stability, and workforce development so that when the cycle turned, we were already there, ready to execute. 

Built for the Long Game 

The future of energy construction belongs to the partners who can build through volatility—not react to it. Solar will continue to lead the nation’s capacity growth because it’s the fastest, most reliable, and most adaptable solution to the grid-readiness challenge. 

Cinterra’s diversified delivery model ensures that EPCs and developers can depend on one partner who understands the entire landscape—from electrical infrastructure to mechanical balance of plant and beyond. 

We’re not trying to be EPCs. We’re the contractor they trust when the project must be done right the first time. 

We’re the diversified energy contractor who shows up ready—from the first pile to the final energization. 

Citations 

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