Coal news and updates

Kentucky's largest electric utilities, Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities, are soliciting proposals for an unspecified amount of high-sulfur and mid-sulfur steam coal for several power plants for 2014 and thereafter, a spokeswoman for the utilities said Monday.

 

"This is an open position to fill for 2014 and beyond, so we'll assess the bids as they come in and determine the amounts of coal needed," Liz Pratt said in an interview.

 

Together, LG&E and KU burn 16.5 million to 17 million short tons of coal annually.

High-sulfur spot or term coal is being sought, starting in January, for the Trimble County, Mill Creek and Ghent baseload plants. Bids also are being requested for mid-sulfur coal deliveries from January-September 2014 for the Green River baseload station.

 

The company is seeking high-sulfur coal with the following specifications: 11,000 Btu/lb; maximum ash of 12 lbs or 13.20%; maximum moisture of 12 lbs or 13.20%; and maximum sulfur of 3 lbs or 3.30%.

 

Specifications for the mid-sulfur coal include: 11,500 Btu/lb; maximum ash of 8.7 lbs or 10%; maximum moisture of 10.43 lbs or 12%; and maximum sulfur of 2.285 lbs or 2.63%.

 

The solicitation also includes a request for 75,000 st of coal middlings for Ghent. Coal middlings are byproducts of the coal-washing process.

 

Bids must be received by the utilities by 5 pm EDT on September 19. Bids will remain in effect until 5 pm EST on December 18, and may not be withdrawn within this period unless a written request from the bidder is approved by the company.

 

Bidders are invited to submit more than one quotation for differing coal specifications.

 

LG&E and KU are subsidiaries of Pennsylvania's PPL Corp. Together, LG&E and KU serve almost 1 million customers and own about 8,000 MW of mostly coal-fired generation capacity.

 

Source: Platts