Coal news and updates

Public Service Enterprise Group said June 1 that it had retired its last remaining coal-fired power plant, the 400-MW Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 3 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which operated since 1968, and is part of a continued US trend toward coal plant retirements.

 

Originally designed to be fueled with oil or coal, Unit 3 was converted to a full-time coal unit in 2002 and provided 400 MW of peaking capacity to southern Connecticut, meaning the plant only operated during times of peak energy demand like extreme heat or extreme cold, the company said in a statement. Subsidiary PSEG Power operated the plant.

 

"For PSEG, the retirement of BHS 3 marks the end of our company's coal era, reflecting a nationwide trend toward the use of cleaner fuels to generate the electricity we need to power our lives," Ralph Izzo, PSEG president and CEO, said in the statement.

 

The company is still working to sell its remaining mostly natural gas-fired fossil fuel assets by the end of 2021. The natural gas-fired Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 5 remains operating at the site and is one of the plants the company is looking to sell as part of its shift to being a regulated utility.

 

Following the sale, PSEG Power's fleet will consist almost entirely of carbon-free electricity, including nuclear plants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and new investments in offshore wind generation.

 

Interestingly, the coal plant was only dispatched to operate for two days in 2020, and not at all in 2019, before running for nearly two uninterrupted months to supply additional power to the grid during an extended period of cold weather in January and February of 2021, PSEG said.

 

"That remarkable run, even as the unit was just weeks from retiring permanently, reflects the readiness and determination of the entire Bridgeport Harbor 3 team, with support from BHS 5, New Haven and the entire PSEG Fossil organization," Izzo said.

 

 

Source : https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news