By Neil Strother
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.
(Source: Sem Tech Solutions)
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.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/pikeresearch/2015/07/01/coal-fired-power-plants/?ss=energy