Coal news and updates

Duke Energy Indiana plans early retirement of 4,100 MW of coal capacity

Duke Energy Indiana has moved up the planned retirement dates of more than 4,100 MW of coal capacity.

The Duke Energy Corp. subsidiary in its proposed 20-year integrated resource plan forecasts the retirement of the 500-MW unit 1 and 495-MW unit 2 at its Cayuga plant in Vermillion County, Indiana, by 2028. Duke Energy Indiana previously planned to retire unit 1 in 2035, followed by unit 2 in 2037.

The proposed replacement for Cayuga Station is a 1,240-MW combined-cycle natural gas plant, according to a fact sheet from the utility.

Duke Energy Indiana also plans to shut down all five units at its massive Gibson coal plant in Gibson County, Indiana, at least a few years early. The units represent 3,132 MW of coal capacity. The fact sheet shows units 1 and 2 will be shut down in 2038, instead of 2041 and 2040, respectively. Unit 3 will be shut down in 2034 instead of 2043, while unit 4 will be shut down in 2026 instead of 2044 and unit 5 will be shut down in 2034 instead of 2047.

Duke Energy Indiana still plans to shut down its 280-MW R. Gallagher coal plant in 2022, but will advance the retirement of its Noblesville combined-cycle natural gas plant to 2034 from 2038.

"As coal-fired generation is gradually retired, we expect to add by year 2037 1,240 megawatts of cleaner burning natural gas, 700 megawatts of wind energy, and 1,650 megawatts of solar power," the utility said.

The plan is subject to approval of the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and the retirements are projections, not commitments.

Source: S&P Global