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Transition Away from Coal-Fired Power Plants Keeps Building

The transition away from coal-fired power plants continues among a number of U.S. utilities both in an effort to comply with carbon reduction standards and for cost-cutting reasons. In the last few months alone, several thousand megawatts of coal-generated capacity have been taken offline. The trend is similar in other industrialized countries, with a key exception.

In the United States, Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP) has ceased generation at 10 of its coal-fired plants across five states. Operations were halted in May at coal units in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia; combined, these units generated more than 5,500 MW. AEP intends to close two more of its coal-fired plants in 2016 in Oklahoma and Texas. Similarly, PacifiCorp, the Berkshire Hathaway-controlled utility operating in several Western states, shut down two coal units at its Utah Carbon Plant (172 MW) in April. Also, the company laid out plans to take nearly 3,000 MW of capacity offline by 2029. As part of PacifiCorp’s long-term resource plans, the company expects to add more renewable energy resources, further reduce its use of coal, and meet most of its expected generation needs with increased energy efficiency over the next decade.

Though no recent plant shutdowns have taken place in North Carolina, Duke Energy did announce that its controversial Asheville plant (which was part of a recent federal criminal settlement related to groundwater contamination) would shift from coal to natural gas and solar generation over the next 4–5 years. A new 650 MW plant would replace the 376 MW coal-fired facility and would significantly reduce emissions, the company said. In Arizona, Salt River Project officials have agreed to buy the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s portion of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station plant as a next step in the eventual closure of one of the three generators in order to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. Overall, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects the proposed federal Clean Power Plan could lead to about 90 GW of coal-fired generation being removed by 2040 under one scenario, which would be more than double the amount taken offline if no new carbon standards were in place.

A Global Trend

This trend away from coal is playing out in most other major industrialized countries as well, with one exception. Canada and the United Kingdom have implemented policies for phasing out coal. In France, Italy, and Germany, the markets for coal are weak, according to E3G, a European public interest non-profit organization that conducted research for Oxfam on the topic among the G7 countries. For instance, France has shut down seven units in 2015 and is now down to a total of four. Japan is the exception; plans in the country call for an increase in coal-fired electricity generation in part due to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, which led to the shutdown of nuclear power plants that made up 30% of Japan’s energy supply, with coal filling the gap for now.

With the exception of Japan, the shift away from coal-fired plants is underway in leading nations, though not fast enough nor in the way environmental groups like the Sierra Club and others would like. Nonetheless, the direction away from coal seems clear.

source: http://www.forbes.com