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An Indiana electric utility has announced a $ 1.1 billion investment in that state that includes switching coal-fired units to run on natural gas, along with new solar power and battery […]
The post AES Indiana Switching Last Coal Units to Gas, Adding Solar and Storage appeared first on POWER Magazine.
The post EIA Details Impact of Coal-to-Gas Switching appeared first on POWER Magazine.
U.S. utilities have made a significant move away from coal-fired power generation in the past decade, evidenced by a continuing stream of announced coal plant retirements.
That transition has been partly driven by new generation from renewable resources, such as wind and solar power. New data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released August 5, though, shows that a large part of that transition came as generators repurposed those coal plants to run on natural gas, or built new gas-fired plants to replace electricity generated by burning coal.
The EIA on Wednesday said 121 U.S. coal-fired power plants were repurposed to burn other fuels between 2011 and 2019. The agency said 85% of those plants were converted to gas, or replaced by natural gas-fired plants. This coal-to-gas switching was driven not only by more stringent emissions regulations, but also by consistently lower prices for natural gas.
Fuel blending and switching has become the norm in response to regulatory and market forces, but many older boilers were designed for a particular fuel. Understanding the effects of different fuels on combustion system metals is crucial for ensuring smooth operations.
Is there a clear distinction between good and bad fuel to burn in a particular boiler? Apparently not! Some fuels may contain higher heating values, but they may also possess characteristics that cause emissions problems, as well as operational and reliability challenges. Other fuels may be more environmentally friendly, but may contain higher moisture content and lower heating values. Ideally, the “right fuel” is that for which a boiler is designed or retrofitted to specifically burn.
Congress extensively amended the Clean Air Act in 1990. Following those changes, the Environmental Protection Agency began imposing more stringent emissions regulations in the mid-1990s, which led to fuel blending and switching becoming the norm. Of course, there are other factors—such as cost, availability of mines, and meeting full-load requirements in a dynamic environment—that have also influenced fuel blending or switching decisions.…