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Group Buys Pennsylvania Coal Refuse Plants to Power Bitcoin Mining

August 3, 2021

The post Group Buys Pennsylvania Coal Refuse Plants to Power Bitcoin Mining appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A digital mining company has an agreement to purchase a second power plant in Pennsylvania, as the group increases its coal refuse reclamation operations in the state to provide energy for its bitcoin mining operations.

Stronghold Digital Mining, a bitcoin (BTC) miner headquartered in Kennerdell, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 3 said its purchase of the Panther Creek Plant, located on 33 acres in Nesquehoning, in Carbon County, adds 80 MW of generation capacity to its portfolio, which also includes the 85-MW Scrubgrass plant. Scrubgrass is located on 650 acres in Scrubgrass Township, in Venango County.

Stronghold, founded earlier this year, uses the power plants to convert coal refuse into power that is used to mine bitcoin, an energy-intensive process. Coal refuse is classified by Pennsylvania as a Tier II alternative energy resource, akin to large-scale hydropower. Coal refuse over the years has been left in piles near coal operations; today, circulating fluidized bed technology allows for emissions-controlled conversion of coal refuse into energy.…

G20 Environment Ministers: No Consensus on Phasing Out Coal

July 26, 2021

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The U.S., UK and other countries want world governments to commit to a phaseout of the use and financing of coal-fired power generation, but officials who met at the G20 Environment Ministers Meeting summit in Naples, Italy, this past week ended their talks without an agreement on the future of the fuel.

The topic will come up again at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, later this year. The talks in Italy, which ended July 23, showed the difficulty among developed nations in reaching a consensus on carbon emissions, with coal-fired power still a dominant part of the energy mix in many countries.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) earlier this month reported that coal-fired generation is experiencing a resurgence this year after the pandemic-driven drop in 2020. The IEA has projects 3% growth in the construction of new coal-fired facilities in 2022.…

Consumers Energy to Quit Coal by 2025, Speeding Closure of Five Units

June 26, 2021

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Michigan’s largest energy provider Consumers Energy will stop using coal as a fuel source for power generation within the next four years—15 years earlier than previously planned.

In an updated integrated resource plan (IRP) filed with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) on June 23, the CMS Energy subsidiary said the effort would lead Michigan’s clean energy transformation, and, if approved, it would make Consumers “one of the first utilities in the nation to go coal-free.”

Under the sweeping plan, Consumers will accelerate the closure of about 2.5 GW by 2025. It will speed up retirement of its three coal-fired units at its Campbell generating complex near Holland to 2025. Campbell 1 and 2—a combined 600 MW—are currently slated to close in six years. The 840-MW Campbell 3 is scheduled to close in 2040. It would also speed up closure of D.E.…

NRG Will Close 3 Coal Plants After Poor Auction Results

June 18, 2021

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NRG Energy Inc. said it will retire three coal-fired power plants—two in Illinois and one in Delaware—next year after disappointing results in the May 2021 capacity auction for the PJM Interconnection.

NRG during its June 17 investor day presentation said about 1.6 GW of coal-fired generation would be closed, including the 682-MW Waukegan and 510-MW Will County (Romeoville) plants in Illinois, along with the 410-MW Indian River plant in Delaware. The announcement was made by Christopher Moser, NRG’s executive vice president of operations. The plants account for about 55% of NRG’s coal-fired generation capacity in PJM.

“Closing these plants was a difficult, but necessary decision,” NRG said in a statement.

*The Waukegan coal plant, located on the shore of Lake Michigan, will close next year along with two other NRG-operated coal plants, the company announced June 17. Courtesy: Google Images*

Moser said the three facilities would be retired in June 2022. …

PSEG Power Closes Last Coal Plant, Explores Divestiture of Other Fossil Assets

June 6, 2021

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PSEG Power retired its Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 3 (BHS 3, Figure 1) on May 31. The unit, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was the last remaining coal-fired power plant in the company’s fleet.

1. United Illuminating Co. placed Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 3 in service in 1968. The station changed hands in 1999 when WISVEST purchased it. WISVEST sold the station to PSEG Power in 2002. Unit 3 was officially retired on May 31, 2021. Courtesy: PSEG Power

“The retirement of Bridgeport Harbor Station Unit 3 marks the end of an era for the City of Bridgeport and the citizens who relied on its power,” Ralph Izzo, chairman, president, and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG Power’s parent company), said in a press release. “I’m grateful to the generations of employees who operated this unit safely and reliably for more than 50 years, and to the entire Bridgeport community for their support.”…

Wyoming Coal Power Plant May Host Natrium Advanced Nuclear Demonstration

June 4, 2021

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Bill Gates’ nuclear innovation startup TerraPower and Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary PacifiCorp are looking to site a federally backed demonstration of their 345-MWe Natrium advanced nuclear reactor system at a retiring PacifiCorp coal power plant in Wyoming.

During a June 2 energy event in Cheyenne attended by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Bill Gates, and U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), the companies said they plan to announce a plant site for the demonstration by the end of this year. While the companies are now still conducting “joint due diligence to ensure this opportunity is cost-effective” for PacifiCorp’s customers, their next steps will include “further project evaluation, education and outreach, and state and federal regulatory approvals prior to acquisition of a Natrium facility,” they said.

An ARDP Boost

The announcement is nonetheless significant because it provides a state-backed vicinity for one of the two much-watched demonstration projects bolstered by $ 80 million each in initial federal funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP).…