Coal news and updates

There is an inverse S-curve developing in the U.S. coal generation sector, with announced plant retirements expanding rapidly as utilities and independent power producers adjust to the influx of cleaner and cheaper wind, solar and battery storage resources disrupting the electric system.

 

IEEFA data shows that just since March, the generating capacity of coal plants slated to retire or convert to gas from 2021-2030 has risen by 10 gigawatts (GW), to a total of 80.9GW—a 116% increase from a year ago in March 2020, when utilities had only 37.4GW of coal capacity scheduled to close through 2030.

 

The change is equally pronounced for retirements from 2031-40. IEEFA data shows 35.3GW of coal capacity slated to retire this decade, up sharply from the scheduled 19.4GW of retirements in March 2021 and almost triple the 13.7GW tracked in March 2020.

 

The broad acceleration of utilities’ plans for coal retirements is exemplified by the new Clean Energy Plan announced recently by Michigan’s Consumers Energy, in which it now proposes to be coal-free by 2025. That’s 15 years sooner than what the company proposed just three years ago in its 2018 integrated resource plan.

 

In that plan, Consumers said it would close Dan Karn Units 1 and 2 in 2023, Units 1 and 2 at the Campbell plant in 2031, and its final coal generating unit, Campbell 3, in 2040.

 

Consumers would have still relied on coal-fired generation for almost 30% of its electric output through 2030 and more than 15% through 2040.

 

Source : https://reneweconomy.com