Coal news and updates

US coal-fired power generation totaled 101,011 TWh in July, up 28.9% from June and down 12.5% from the year-ago month, Energy Information Administration data showed.

July had the most coal-fired generation this year since January, and was only the second time since August 2018 coal generation went above 100,000 TWh.

From the five-year average of 133,643 TWh produced in July, generation was at a 24.4% deficit this year, the smallest drop in four months.

Out of total generation, coal took a 24.6% share, 2.3 percentage points above June’s share.Coal capacity averaged 59.2% in July, up from 47.4% in June and down from 64.3% in the year-ago month.

Natural gas contributed 174,063 TWh in July, up 27.2% from June and up 4.1% from the year-ago month. Additionally, gas produced its peak level of generation in July, according to available data beginning in 2011.

Gas also took a 42.3% share of power generation, the highest since the data begins. From the five-year average of 144,400 TWh in July, gas was up 20.5% this year.

The capacity factor for gas plants was 72.8%, up from 62.9% in June and down slightly from 72.9% in the year-ago month. Total renewable generation, including hydro, was 60,366 TWh, down 6.2% from June and up 12% from the year-ago month.

Renewables produced 14.7% of total generation in July, down from 18.3% in the previous month. Hydro produced 22,909 TWh in July, down 13% month on month and down 4.6% from the year-ago month. Utility solar produced a peak of 8,256 TWh, according to available data, up 0.5% from the previous month and up 19% from the year-ago month. Wind produced 22,470 TWh, down 4% from June and up 40.3% from the year-ago month.

While hydro took 5.6% of generation, solar made up 2% and wind made 5.5%.Capacity factors for renewables in July were 32.7% for wind, 33.1% for solar and 41.7% for hydro.

 

Source : https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com