Doing so provides important context for recent
coal plant retirement announcements, particularly given that some companies have attributed retirements to EPA rules that are still years away from going into force.
One - third of those plants, among the oldest and dirtiest in the United States, were to be shuttered by the end of 2012, making it the biggest year for
coal plant retirements in the nation's history.
The already significant pace of
coal plant retirements in PJM Interconnection is about to kick into high gear over the next couple of months, according to a new study by Genscape.
While there are 282 plants across Europe left to go,
coal plant retirements since January 2016 have already resulted in significant health and economic benefits.
Market forces explain much of the US electricity sector NOx emissions reductions and nearly
all coal plant retirements.
In addition, CoalSwarm provides sortable tracking tables for proposed coal plants in the United States,
coal plant retirements in the United States, and proposed coal plants in India.
In 2008, approximately 8.5 million people lived within a 3 - mile radius of an operational coal plant, but by 2016, following widespread
coal plant retirements, that number fell to about 3.3 million.
Given that deeper CO2 reductions would likely beget more
coal plant retirements, necessitating more buildout of new infrastructure, the NERC report seems to show that more ambitious carbon cuts could be unworkable for the grid.
We anticipate additional
coal plant retirements, beyond those contemplated in the 2011 Consent Decree, as part of the 2015 TVA IRP process.
The stampede of new
coal plant retirements speaks for itself.
The 2007 agreement had required AEP to install flue gas desulfurization (FGD) technology at the plant — a more expensive technology that results in greater pollution reductions — but Sierra Club and the other parties agreed to the DSI technology in return for an earlier installation date, the other
coal plant retirements, and clean energy investments.
In an analysis for the Energy Information Administration, Laura Martin and Jeffrey Jones project that
coal plant retirements during 2015 — 20 as a result of CPP actions may reach 61.6 GW (of a total of 326 GW in operation in 2014), with 30.4 GW in the 2020s and 7.5 GW in the 2030s.
Nevertheless, the CPP will cause states, taxpayers, and energy consumers to get stiffed with huge cost burdens, including capital - intensive, decades - long transitions needed for adding expensive and unreliable wind and solar infrastructures,
coal plant retirements and upgrades, restructured transmission lines, and new natural gas pipelines.
This could trigger up to 20 gigawatts of
coal plant retirements this year, compared to 4 gigawatts of
coal plant retirements in 2014 and 5 gigawatts in 2013.
Not exact matches
DELTA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Michigan regulators on Friday cleared DTE Energy's request to build a near - $ 1 billion natural gas power
plant, the first approval of such a large facility for a regulated utility in decades and a move that coincides with the
retirement of
coal - fired
plants.
Energy Secretary Rick Perry commissioned the study in April to evaluate whether «regulatory burdens» imposed by past administrations — including that of President Barack Obama — had forced the premature
retirement of baseload power
plants that provide nonstop power, like those fired by
coal and nuclear fuel.
Obama had introduced a raft of regulations intended to slash emissions of carbon dioxide blamed for climate change, a policy course that accelerated the
retirement of older
coal - fired power
plants and bolstered the nascent solar and wind sectors, which depend heavily on weather conditions for their power output.
The natural gas
plants are necessary partly because of expected load growth, partly because of the intermittent nature of solar power and partly because of the planned
retirement of around 3,000 megawatts of generation powered by less efficient
coal and oil
plants, he said.
Europe saw a record 10 gigawatts of
coal plant closures in 2016, and countries including Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, and Portugal are working toward aggressive
coal retirement schedules or, in the case of the UK, complete phase - out plans.
Since 2012, two of New York's remaining
coal plants, Dunkirk and Cayuga, have requested to mothball while a third, Huntley, has requested permanent
retirement due to unfavorable market conditions.
We're seeing a lot more natural gas because of its price and the
retirement of
coal - fired power
plants.
Among Freeman's specific recommendations are a «20 percent federal tax credit to electricity and natural gas utilities that gives highest priority to the efficient use of the energy they supply,» and ban on new
coal or nuclear
plants and
retirement of the existing
plants within the next 30 years, government - funded demonstration
plants for Big Solar and hydrogen, increasing federal fuel economy standards one mile - per - gallon a year over the next 24 years, tax credits for plug - in hybrids or flex - fuel vehicles, and an excess - profits tax on oil to fund the tax credits.
Earthjustice's landmark court victory, which put in motion strict new limits on toxic air pollution from
coal - fired power
plants, drives the
retirement of many dirty
plants and a shift to cleaner power.
It's also unsupported, and in some cases contradicted, by the DOE study ordered by Perry in April that examined the link between
coal and nuclear
plant retirements, market forces and grid reliability and resiliency.
Washington State and Oregon have two of the cleanest energy mixes in the nation, with one
coal plant each, both of which are scheduled for
retirement in the next decade.
This includes support for policies that: (1) require the installation and operation of state - of - the - art air pollution control technologies and (2) encourage conversion to cleaner energy resources and / or permanent
retirement of
coal - fired power
plants.
Also, despite Perry's «sky is falling» declarations regarding
coal and nuclear
plant retirements, as Perry's own Department of Energy (DOE) acknowledged last summer, the grid has become more reliable in the last 15 years — notwithstanding
coal and nuclear
retirements.
Increasingly strict controls on total
coal capacity and power
plant emissions are expected to prompt the
retirement of up to 20 GW of older
plants and spur technological upgrades to China's remaining 1,000 GW of
coal power.
Utilities nationwide have set
retirements for 266
coal power
plants since 2010 as residents reject paying the personal health costs and the expensive electricity rates needed to keep old
coal plants running.
This means that 37
coal plants have retired or announced
retirement since January 2016.
BERLIN, 23 March 2018 —
Coal plant closure momentum is growing in Europe this month, with four German plants retiring or announcing retirement in March, and Ireland committing to a total coal phase out by 2
Coal plant closure momentum is growing in Europe this month, with four German
plants retiring or announcing
retirement in March, and Ireland committing to a total
coal phase out by 2
coal phase out by 2025.
«Europe Beyond
Coal groups have been working tirelessly to secure closures of damaging coal plants, and these German plant retirements show that we are making welcome progress in Europe towards healthy, modern energy systems,» said Kathrin Gutmann, Campaign Director at Europe Beyond C
Coal groups have been working tirelessly to secure closures of damaging
coal plants, and these German plant retirements show that we are making welcome progress in Europe towards healthy, modern energy systems,» said Kathrin Gutmann, Campaign Director at Europe Beyond C
coal plants, and these German
plant retirements show that we are making welcome progress in Europe towards healthy, modern energy systems,» said Kathrin Gutmann, Campaign Director at Europe Beyond
CoalCoal.
But in less than three years the campaign has nearly doubled those predictions, securing the
retirement of more than 60,000 megawatts, more than one quarter of all
coal plants in the country.»
This milestone comes only a year - and - a-half after we hit the 100th
retirement, the notorious Crawford
coal plant in Chicago.
There could be as much as 2,600 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas available domestically.63 The U.S. currently uses approximately 22 tcf per year.64 If the shale deposits meet their potential, these finds will certainly help accelerate the
retirement of
coal power
plants and reduce our dependence on foreign oil and our foreign exchange imbalance.
A key factor in those
retirements is a new Environmental Protection Agency regulation on emissions of toxins from
coal - fired power
plants.
The commission rejected the energy secretary's assertion that
retirement of
coal and nuclear
plants threatens electric resilience.
Scheduled
retirements are currently concentrated among smaller, more inefficient
coal plants, noted the Energy Information Administration on Friday.
Some
coal plants applied for and received one - year extensions, meaning that many of the
coal retirements expected in 2016 will likely also occur in April.
The underlying analysis revealed that the average
coal plant in the US is 40 years old and since 2010 more than half of US
coal units have either shut down or have a planned
retirement in the near future.
The EPA regulations call for increasing the use of state - of - the - art, natural gas - fired power
plants in place of
coal plants; increasing renewable energy sources; avoiding
retirement of existing nuclear
plants; and supporting energy efficiency.
The net result is likely to be an acceleration of the
retirement of existing
coal - fired power
plants.
To compound matters, Michigan is facing a number of
coal - generating power
plant retirements during the next six years.
E3G's scorecard looks at the progress made on phasing out
coal since the Paris climate conference and shows that an additional 40GW of existing
coal plants have been marked for
retirement over the coming years.
Residential customers experiencing the highest increases, and / or potential increases, are those who are heavily dependent on
coal - fueled generation, as required retrofits can not economically meet existing environmental requirements — resulting in the proposed
retirement of older
coal - fueled
plants.
Sierra Club's Hitt noted that the
retirement of large,
coal - fired
plants, many of which date back half a century or more, is already under way.
To date, more than a third of the nation's on - campus
coal plants have been retired or are slated for
retirement — including recent announcements from University of Cincinnati and Wooster College.
If global power sector emissions remain flat until 2025, before falling more steeply later on, then losses could reach $ 8.3 tn by 2060 and early
retirements of
coal and gas
plants would climb to 2,350 GW.
The report estimated that regulations cutting emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides would lead to the «premature»
retirements of
coal - fired power
plants that can generate 47.8 gigawatts of electricity, about 15 percent of
coal's U.S. production capacity.
Similarly, emission reductions in the UK power sector were largely driven by the
retirement of old, inefficient
coal plant during the 1990s, through sulphur regulations which meant
plant owners were faced with the choice of either retrofitting stock or retiring it (Eyre, 2001).