plants | EnergyNorthwest.com

$8 Billion Proposals Could Bring New Gas-Fired Plants to Texas

April 28, 2021

The post $ 8 Billion Proposals Could Bring New Gas-Fired Plants to Texas appeared first on POWER Magazine.

An energy investment group told Texas regulators the company has a plan to help solve some of that state’s electricity reliability issues, proposing a plan similar to one put forth by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy in March.

Starwood Energy Group on April 23 sent the state’s Public Utility Commission a proposal to build 11 natural gas-fired power plants, investing more than $ 8 billion to develop and construct the facilities. Representatives from Berkshire Hathaway Energy last month met with Texas lawmakers and said their group was prepared to spend about $ 8.3 billion to build 10 gas-fired plants across the state.

Starwood, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, in an April 23 letter from CEO Himanshu Saxena to the Texas PUC (PUCT) and the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s main grid operator, said it wanted to outline “a compelling proposal to solve ERCOT’s reliability issues as was demonstrated by the energy crisis that occurred in February 2021.”…

Vistra Backs Illinois Transition Measure to Keep At-Risk Coal Plants Online Through 2025

April 12, 2021

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post Vistra Backs Illinois Transition Measure to Keep At-Risk Coal Plants Online Through 2025 appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Bleeding financially from underperforming and legally burdened coal generation in downstate Illinois and elsewhere, Vistra, the nation’s largest competitive generator, has renewed its call for passage of the Illinois Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act, a bill that could help keep 2.2 GW of existing at-risk capacity online through 2025 while the state expands its renewable and storage capacity.

The Irving, Texas–headquartered company said it renewed its support for the bill owing to “mounting financial and legal pressures that now come from operating coal plants.” The announcement came as the company accelerated the closure of the 1.2-GW Joppa Power Plant in September 2022—three years earlier than previously disclosed—to settle a complaint related to pollution exceedances in Illinois.

Vistra’s Heavily Burdened Coal Fleet

The Joppa plant, which opened in 1953, has six coal units with a combined capacity of 1 GW, as well as five natural gas units with a combined capacity of 239 MW.…

Key Pre-Demolition Considerations for Fossil Fuel Power Plants

March 31, 2021

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post Key Pre-Demolition Considerations for Fossil Fuel Power Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

As the existing electric generation infrastructure matures, electric generation system owners are looking to the future for newer and greener technologies to meet the demands of electric consumption. An important part of this future perspective may include the demolition and removal of older generation plants and facilities to free up land resources for new development.

Prior to the physical work of demolition, there are a number of key considerations that need to be addressed to enable the closeout of one chapter to facilitate the emergence of a new chapter.

It can be safely assumed that all fossil-fueled plants maintained a requisite host of permits, licenses, and regulatory requirements that need to be properly closed out prior to filing for a demolition permit and initiation of physical work. All of these have a variety of lead times that may precede the actual demolition permit or are coincident with it.…

Companies Accelerate Shutdown of Chilean Coal Plants

January 2, 2021

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post Companies Accelerate Shutdown of Chilean Coal Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Italy’s Enel is decommissioning one of its coal-fired power plants in Chile two years sooner than originally planned, with the unit’s closure coming two days after the Chile-based unit of a U.S. utility announced it would accelerate the closure of a pair of coal-fired power plants in the country.

Enel on Dec. 31 is closing its 128-MW Bocamina 1 coal-fired power station. The company also is awaiting authorization from Chile’s National Energy Commission (CNE) to close its 350-MW Bocamina 2 plant in May 2022.

AES Gener on Dec. 29 said it would close both the 120-MW Ventanas 1 and 220-MW Ventanas 2 coal-fired generating facilities ahead of schedule, with Ventanas 1 going offline immediately, and Ventanas shutting down in 2022, instead of 2024 as originally scheduled. The Chilean government over the past year has been working with several generators in the country, including AES Gener, Enel, ENGIE, and Colbun, to gradually phase out coal-fired power generation in the South American nation.…

Solar Farms Would Replace New Mexico Coal-Fired Plants

November 17, 2020

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post Solar Farms Would Replace New Mexico Coal-Fired Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

A U.S. subsidiary of one of France’s largest providers of solar power has given New Mexico officials more detailed information about the company’s plans for developing a series of solar projects. The installations would help offset the loss of generation from retiring coal-fired power plants in the state, including the San Juan Generating Station (SJGS) near Farmington.

The 847-MW coal-fired SJGS is scheduled to close in June 2022. Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) earlier this year unveiled a plan using solar-plus-storage to replace the plant’s electricity output. The city of Farmington, meanwhile, has been working with Enchant Energy—a New Mexico company involved in carbon capture and sequestration—on a plan to retrofit the SJGS with carbon-capture technology in order to keep the facility operating. According to Enchant, an ownership agreement between the owners of the SJGS allows the city to acquire the power plant and transfer operations to Enchant.…

China Promotes Climate Goal, and Builds New Coal Plants

September 25, 2020

| No Comments

| Industry News

The post China Promotes Climate Goal, and Builds New Coal Plants appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said he wants his country to “achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.” It will not be an easy task for the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG).

China, though it has canceled some planned thermal power plants over the past several years, has as much as 200 GW of coal-fired facilities in its development pipeline, according to Mary Hutzler, a distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Energy Research. Hutzler, who spent more than 25 years as an analyst and for a time acting administrator with the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), has said coal will be critical to China’s economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic.

Xi, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 22 as part of Climate Week NYC 2020 in New York City, called for a “green revolution,” saying the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to preserve the Earth’s environment.…