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NRG Will Close 3 Coal Plants After Poor Auction Results

June 18, 2021

The post NRG Will Close 3 Coal Plants After Poor Auction Results appeared first on POWER Magazine.

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. …

South Korea Will Close Half Its Coal-Fired Fleet

September 9, 2020

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South Korea’s president said the country will shutter 30 more coal-fired power plants by 2034, and bring additional solar and wind power resources online in the next five years in order to meet emissions reductions targets.

President Moon Jae-in made the announcement Sept. 8 in a speech he delivered virtually for the United Nations’ International Day for Clean Air for blue skies event. The president said his administration will close 10 of those operating coal-fired plants by the end of 2022. He also has called for the country to phase out nuclear power.

South Korea has about 60 operating coal plants, which generate about 40% of the country’s electricity. The country over the past three years has implemented temporary shutdowns of plants that are more than 30 years old, including idling about half the coal-fired fleet earlier this year in an effort to reduce air pollution.…

GenOn Will Close Three Coal-Fired Units

May 22, 2020

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The Texas-based company that owns a coal-fired power plant in Maryland announced it will retire the facility’s three generating units, which have been in operation for about 60 years.

GenOn Holdings said Units 1, 2, and 3 at its Dickerson Generating Station will be closed due to “unfavorable economic conditions and increased costs associated with environmental compliance.” GenOn in a May 15 news release said that “deactivation of the coal-fired units is subject to a 90-day reliability review period by PJM,” after which the company “will initiate a deactivation process and a step plan reduction in the workforce at the Dickerson site.”

The Dickerson facility was a POWER Top Plant in 2010.

The PJM Interconnection website shows the units’ requested deactivation date as Aug. 13. PJM is the regional transmission organization (RTO) that oversees the movement of wholesale electricity in Maryland, 12 other states, and the District of Columbia.…

North Dakota’s Largest Coal Plant Set to Close

May 8, 2020

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The largest coal-fired power plant in North Dakota is scheduled to close in 2022, with the Minnesota-based wholesale electric power cooperative that operates the facility saying the lost generation will be mostly replaced by wind power.

Minnesota-based Great River Energy, which supplies electricity to the suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul, along with other parts of the state, on May 7 announced it will close the 40-year-old Coal Creek Station power plant near Underwood, North Dakota. The plant, which employs about 260 workers, produces about half of the electricity that Great River sells to 28 member-owned electric cooperatives in Wisconsin and Minnesota, according to Jon Brekke, Great River’s vice president. Brekke said the move enables the utility to move “in an opportunistic direction towards an evolved power supply portfolio,” and reflects “significant shifts in the wholesale [power] market.”

The power cooperative said it plans to invest more than $ 1.2 billion to purchase more than 1,100 MW of wind power from new projects, including at least 600 MW of wind power in southern and western Minnesota.…

Wisconsin Co-op Will Close Coal-Fired Plant

January 26, 2020

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Wisconsin-based Dairyland Power Cooperative on Jan. 23 said it would close its 345-MW coal-fired Genoa Station No. 3 by year-end 2021. The move comes as the La Crosse-based utility continues to phase out coal-fired power generation while it develops a new, $ 700-million natural gas-fired plant, and ramps up its use of renewable power sources.

The Genoa plant has operated for nearly 51 years. Dairyland said the plant employs about 80 workers.

“Our employees are Dairyland’s most valued resource,” said Dairyland CEO Barbara Nick in a statement. “As we made this difficult decision, we did so with a deep appreciation for the contributions of our employees who have dedicated their talents and energy to help us deliver on our mission to our members.”

The supercritical Genoa facility, which was brought online in June 1969, was designed to be highly efficient and uses low-sulfur coal from the Powder River Basin, delivered by barge.…

Deal Announced to Close Louisiana Coal Unit

January 16, 2020

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The Arkansas Public Service Commission has approved a plan to retire the Dolet Hills power plant, a coal-fired unit in Mansfield, Louisiana that serves part of the state. The decision, reached in December and announced Jan. 8 by the Sierra Club, came as part of a settlement agreement in a recently concluded Arkansas rate review, according to Peter Main, a spokesman for Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), which shares the plant’s electricity production with plant owner Central Louisiana Electric Co. (Cleco).

Said Main in a Jan. 9 email to POWER: “As part of a settlement agreement in the recently concluded Arkansas rate review, SWEPCO has agreed to seek regulatory approval to retire the Dolet Hills Power Plant by the end of 2026. SWEPCO has committed to make the necessary regulatory filings at least 12 months prior to the retirement date. Also as part of the settlement, the Sierra Club agrees to withdraw its pending challenges related to the Dolet Hills Power Plant in Texas and Louisiana.…